


A Doomed World

by MinishMae



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Accepting their differences, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, And they use Dib's knowledge to beat the apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Character Death, Coping, Dangerous Situations, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, In which Zim and Dib are left stranded on Earth with no way off, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Panic Attacks, Swearing, TW/ Attempted Rape, TW/ Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, Work In Progress, ZADF, ZaDr, Zombie Apocalypse, invader zim - Freeform, learning about one another, learning to forgive, possibly???
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-06-21 07:30:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 64,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15552705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinishMae/pseuds/MinishMae
Summary: Zim was overjoyed when an incoming transmission from the Tallest came through! Perhaps he was going to get the praise he finally and truly deserved! His hopes and dreams were shattered in one swift blow when he was told his mission was a lie. He was not an Invader. The Tallest wanted nothing to do with him anymore. To make matters worse, something has happened to the humans. It's like they're sick!Realizing Dib may have knowledge on whats happening, the two decide to call a temporary truce for the time being. At least until they find out what's happening. When the world proves to be too much for them, they team up using Zim's alien technology and Dib's knowledge of the undead to beat this world together!**Possible ZADR in later chapters**





	1. Misfits

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based off one of similar nature from 2012. I've decided I'd try my hand at rewriting it, so, here's to hoping I stick with it!  
> This fic will more than likely have more chapters than the old one, but, if you wish to try and follow along and see the improvement, you can see the old fic here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8708236/1/Dead-Rising-An-Invader-Zim-Walking-Dead-Crossover
> 
> Also, thanks to everyone on Tumblr for the support! I hope you all enjoy this! I plan to write more soon!

Zim was in the confines of his base working on various experiments. He was hoping that these tedious tests would end up benefiting him in the long run; usually working day and night, hoping to come to some conclusion about the horrible human race. He had arrived at the planet a year or so ago and yet things seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. He knew the Armada would be arriving at any time, which meant he had to keep working! Press on through the boring tests and find Earth’s true weaknesses! 

“Perhaps what I need is to attend more school?” Zim questioned himself aloud. “It seems they teach us nothing about the Planet or it’s weaknesses. Only it’s history!” 

Zim spat in disgust as he prodded at a semi-robotic squirrel, shocking it with a spear from his PAK. Even if he learned nothing from school, he had to keep going back. Dib was there, and he posed the only threat to his mission. He needed to keep returning to make sure he wasn’t plotting anything against him. A perfect plan indeed! 

Suddenly, Zim’s thoughts were interrupted as a buzz came from the control brain in his base. His computer started talking, and his antennae twitched at the sudden noise. 

“ **Incoming call from the Almighty Tallest.** ” the computer explained in it’s usual dull voice. 

Zim’s entire demeanor changed from serious to overjoyed-- the Tallest were calling him?! Usually he was the one to instigate a call! The Irken immediately dropped everything he was doing and rushed off to receive the Tallest’s call. Watching as the alien ran off, the squirrel took the initiative and leapt away, squeaking in fear. 

Once Zim arrived at the room with the viewscreen and several control panels, he could barely contain his excitement. He was practically shaking with joy! Once he regained his composure, he ordered the computer to answer, and within minutes the two taller aliens appeared on his screen. They bore serious, unwavering expressions. Zim obviously took this as a way of saying they had good news for him. 

“Sirs!” Zim said, taking a salute to his leaders. “I wasn’t expecting a call, so you must pardon the late reply! I clearly meant NO disrespect!” 

The Tallest remained silent, glancing at one another before bringing their gaze back to Zim. However, their body language didn’t get through to the small Irken before them. 

“Zim, you need to know something,” Red said, clearing his throat before talking.

“Oh, I think I already know what that is, my Tallest--” Zim interrupted. He bore an egotistical look. “You’re obviously congratulating me on how well I’ve been at assessing Earth’s weaknesses! No need to say any more!” he glanced back with big, shimmering eyes. “So, what’s the reward? Tanks? Improved Megadoomers?! TANKS AND MEGADOOMERS?!” 

“What? No, Zim! That’s not it--” Red was ultimately cut off by Tallest Purple who had had enough of Zim’s shenanigans. His eyes seemed to dart straight through the screen. 

“Zim, you’re relieved of duty!” 

The smaller Irken’s eyes widened for a moment. He sat there in shock. Relieved of duty? What could that possibly mean? His mouth curved into a smile as his antennae drooped. 

“R-relieved of duty, my Tallest?” he asked, stuttering his words a bit. “Does this mean you’re coming to take the Earth? When can I expect you? I can prepare an onslaught and snacks and--” 

“Zim!” Purple shouted. “Get it through your thick skull! You are NOT an Invader!” 

“What …?” Zim asked in complete dismay. “But … my mission …” 

Red groaned audibly, bringing his two fingers to his forehead, rubbing the afflicted area. “There was no mission. It was all a lie.” 

“But, WHY!?” Zim cried back. 

“You once brought untold destruction to Irk. You nearly wiped out our entire race! We _wanted_ to be rid of you!” Purple cried back. 

“I was doing what was BEST for our kind! Operation Impending Doom 1 could’ve gone according to plan if you had just--” 

“That’s enough.” Red said, silencing Zim. “Zim, you’ve done too much damage to take anything back. The truth of the matter is that you are a defect.” 

Those words hit Zim like the Armada itself, slamming into him full force. 

“We wanted to be rid of you since day one! But, we had hopes that your demeanor would change. Obviously, we were wrong. Your mission was all a lie, Zim. We _aren’t_ coming.” 

Purple inched closer to the screen, staring at Zim as he looked up with horrified eyes. 

“Don’t call us again. You aren’t an Invader. We are never coming for Earth. You’re a _failure,_ , Zim.” 

A crack in Zim’s voice was apparent as he spoke. “M-my Tallest … I-” 

The screen faded to static as the Tallest cut the transmission. Zim dared not call back out of fear of what they might do. Everything that just happened played back in his head over and over again. Defect? Lie? No mission? Everything he had known for a year was all … a lie? Tak had told him the same thing many months ago, but, why should he have believed her? It made no sense! But, now, it all came full circle. The fact of the matter was that Zim’s mission was a lie from the start. He was no Invader … 

Just a defect, it seemed …

* * *

Zim was still staring at the blank screen, unable to comprehend much of what he had heard. How long had be been standing there? Not even he really knew the answer. The silence finally broke as he heard the loud, screeching screams of his robot assistant fly down one of the chutes from the house up top. Even as GIR flew around, completely out of his insane mind, Zim never once turned his way. 

“MASTER!” GIR screamed, eventually crashing in front of Zim. “Somethin’s happening outside! You gotta see!” 

“Leave me be GIR …” Zim said quietly. He didn’t want to be disturbed. 

“But it’s impooooooortant!!” GIR ran over to Zim, yanking on his hand, trying to get him to move. “It’s the humans! They ain’t right!” 

His antennae twitched at the mention of humans. Even if he wasn’t an Invader, the instinct came crawling back from the depths of his PAK. Every muscle in his body was telling him to follow GIR, but his brain was telling him there was no use anymore. It was all a bunch of lies. Nonetheless, it seemed his body wouldn’t listen to him. He turned to GIR, glaring at him with angry eyes. 

“What?”   
“The humans! There’s somethin’ wrong with em! It’s all over the TV too!”   
“Could this be why the Tallest aren’t coming? Something to do with the HUMANS??”   
“Hmmmmm????”   
“Nevermind, GIR! Show me what you mean!” 

GIR erupted back up the chute, watching as his master followed close behind. As they got to the top, Zim watched as GIR skidded across the tiled floor and right into his dog disguise. Once disguised, he ran up to the window, tail wagging furiously. From within his PAK, Zim grabbed his disguise, throwing it on just as quickly as GIR. 

When he walked up to the window, at first he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Just some humans walking down the street, albeit a bit weirdly. Zim groaned in annoyance and pulled away from the window, glaring down at GIR. 

“THIS is what you called me for??” Zim growled angrily. “Zim has no _time_ for this! I have better things to attend to!” Or at least he did until he found out his mission was all a lie. 

GIR turned to him, pointing at one of the limping humans. “Look at em’! When they turn our way! They look all weird n’ stuff!!” 

Once again, Zim squinted at the human GIR was pointing at, and at last noticed what he meant. It finally turned around, and he could see it’s full features now. Humans were undeniably disgusting in every way, but, this human looked even more disgusting! It’s squishy human belly had been torn open and it’s organs were dangling everywhere-- despite it still walking! Blood and guts everywhere! There seemed to be no life on it’s face. It was human, yet, everything about it seemed so … inhuman. 

Fearing this new discovery, Zim closed the blinds, backing away from the window, shaking in fear. GIR could sense the fear in his movement and rushed to his side, also beginning to feel scared. Why was he acting like this? Was it really that bad of a discovery? 

“Why is that human walking around?!” Zim asked, utterly confused. “It should be _dead_! No human could withstand a wound like that! I know-- I’ve inflicted wounds like that to sturdier beings!” 

“There’s more on the TV!” GIR said running to the couch and dramatically clicking the button on the remote. “Look! The Angry Monkey Show’s been replaced by these News Humans!” 

Zim walked over to the couch and sat beside his robot companion, watching intently for the screen to appear. Once it faded from black, the picture finally came on. A frantic looking News Human stood in the city, stuttering over her words and overall freaking out. She held a microphone in her hand, speaking into it as best she could above the sound of honking cars and screaming people in the distance. 

“I-if anybody you know has been bitten … contact the authorities!” she glanced to the side, her eyes widening as she took off running, her cameraman following her. “Stay out of the streets! And, whatever you do, stay away from those who’ve been infected!” 

Suddenly, the one holding the camera seemingly had tripped. He let out a yelp and a scream in horror as the signal turned off. The news drew to a close and GIR and Zim sat there in shock. Zim was the first to stand up, and pace back and forth, wondering what was happening. 

“What do they mean, _bitten? Infected_?” Zim tapped his chin with his finger, trying to come up with a plausible conclusion. “Has something happened to the humans? Are disgusting Earth animals biting them? Zim MUST know more! ...But, how …?”

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. If anything, this seemed right out of a horror movie or a story. Who was into horror and other weird unearthly situations? None other than Dib! But, was Dib even still around? Scrolling text at the bottom of the news had told people to evacuate. But, so long as Zim’s base still stood, he’d be safe, right? Nevertheless, Dib would know more about this for sure. 

“GIR, we’re going out!” Zim exclaimed, getting his robot’s attention. GIR looked back in horror. 

“Out … there? With the weird humans??” Gir pointed shakily at the door before throwing a hysterical fit on the floor. 

“Yes, GIR! Now!” he turned away as GIR tried composing himself once more. Now, how to get by the humans? “Taking the Voot would be a mistake. I don’t want those … things hearing us. GIR, we’re walking on foot.” 

GIR only nodded quietly. Zim grabbed him by the shoulders, staring at him. He was being serious, and GIR could understand this-- for once in his robot life. 

“We need to be very, very, VERY careful out there! I don’t want any screaming, or squealing, or screeching coming from your mouth hole! We need to be QUIET. Understand?” 

Again, GIR nodded. Zim was sure he understood the circumstances, but he needed to be sure. Once the robot understood the severity of this mission, Zim quietly opened the door to his house, revealing them to the outside world. Everything was quiet, and the humans they had seen earlier seemed to have wandered off. The only noises came from GIR’s suit as he squeaked against the ground. Nothing too loud, and certainly not enough to attract those bizarre creatures. 

They were out! Now, they just had to move quickly and quietly to Dib’s house. Luckily for Zim and GIR, he knew exactly where that was. Pretty creepy-- but, it was good in this instance! As they continued along the sidewalk, Zim didn’t like how quiet it was. The silence was rather … unsettling to say the least. They were far from the house when Zim heard a growl just out of earshot. He looked to the side, and crossing the street was one of those humans, coming straight for them! Luckily they moved slowly, so Zim had time to react. 

“MASTER!!” GIR screamed in a whisper. In a panic, Zim scooped up GIR in his arms as robotic spider legs emerged from his PAK, carrying them down the street, and leaving the human in the dust. He looked back, trying to see if it was following them, but he was relieved when it wasn’t. 

“What is WRONG with them?!” Zim asked, absolutely in shock. “They’re never this bizarre! I mean, they’re bizarre enough, but … Something’s _very_ wrong here …” 

As they neared the blocks closing in on Dib’s house, growling and strange moans could be heard coming from every direction it seemed. Zim had a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach as he couldn’t tell exactly where the noises were coming from. Just as he came around the corner, he spotted Dib’s house in the distance! However, there was another obstacle in front of them-- a mess of those horribly disfigured humans were rushing towards Zim, raising their bloody hands up to try and grab him. 

Both of them let out a scream in horror as the robot legs carried them over the ocean of smelling humans. They were up high enough as to not need to worry about the humans grabbing them, but it didn’t help that GIR’s wails were attracting more. Dib’s house was getting closer, and the human’s door was open! What luck! 

Once out of the wave of deformed humans, the legs retracted back into the PAK, and the two made a beeline straight for the house. Outrunning the humans was easy enough and once in the house, Zim slammed the door behind him, sighing in relief. Zim took a moment to catch his breath as his curious robot companion began walking about the house. 

“GIR! Stay close! We don’t know if any of them got inside!” Zim commanded. However, GIR seemed to ignore him as he headed for the stairs. Zim followed in pursuit after making sure the door was properly locked and barricaded. 

Now to find Dib.

* * *

The house was dark-- extremely dark-- even though it was daytime. To add to an air of creepiness, the lights that were on flickered in the darkness. GIR and Zim passed by the living room where a certain Game Slave 2 was running-- music still playing, although the battery light was blinking rapidly. 

“His scary sister must be nearby.”   
“But, where are they? House is all empty!”   
“We don’t know that, GIR. Stay close-- I mean it!” 

They finally came to the stairwell, and that was when Zim began to hear the growls again. He looked over at the front door and saw the humans trying to get in. They seemed to be just slamming their hands against the window in a futile effort. Even in death, humans were still morons. 

They continued up the stairs and out of the sight of the humans downstairs. With each step the alien and the robot took, the stairs creaked beneath them-- causing Zim to cringe in fear. Of course Dib had to have the noisest set of stairs in the history of stairs. When they finally made it to the top, they could take a moment to figure things out. Or at least, that’s what Zim was hoping to do. However, something immediately caught his attention. At the end of the hallway, two shadows loomed, facing the wall. One was tall, and the other was short. 

Zim gulped, moving slowly towards them. Did the humans from downstairs manage to get in here? As he got closer the flickering light from above managed to shine some light on the subjects before him. One bore a white lab coat with black hair, and the other a blue shirt with purple hair. It was Dib’s family! For once, Zim never felt so relieved to see that the pitiful beings were alright! 

“Ahhh, hello!” Zim said casually, walking up to them. Seeing his master acting friendly made GIR act the same way, and the two walked over, more than happy to see them. “Is Dib-Stink home? It’s very important! Tell ZIM.” 

When they didn’t answer, Zim raised a brow at them. He brought his hand to the girl’s shoulder, hoping to get her attention. Of course, it was a death sentence, knowing her. He tapped her shoulder, then grabbed her, shaking her. 

“Hellloooooooo! Zim is TALKING to you! Scary sister?!” 

Finally, she turned around. However, she didn’t look at all how Zim remembered her. Her eyes were dark, and her pupils had turned a gross combination of brown and red. Blood poured from her mouth and blood covered her clothes. As soon as she made eye contact with Zim, she began growling. The same thing that had happened to the humans downstairs had happened to her. 

Zim let out a gasp and fell backwards in shock. GIR stared at her, dumbfounded. Was that really the Gaz they both knew? As she began limping forward toward them, the taller figure finally turned as well. The blue goggles over his eyes were shattered in one eye. It seemed like his eyes were bleeding. He had become like her too! 

Zim scurried to his feet and scooped up GIR yet again, finding a nearby room to run into. He opened an unlocked door and ran in, slamming it behind him. As GIR locked the bedroom door, Zim tried to find something nearby to barricade it with. He located a bookshelf and tipped it over, all kinds of knick knacks and such falling to the ground. With the door blocked, they could take a moment to relax. If those two were like that now, did that mean the same thing had happened to Dib? 

Looking around to finally get his bearings, Zim realized he was indeed in Dib’s room. Three large computer screens sat atop a desk with many pictures and conspiracy theories surrounding his walls. Things were scattered all over the room-- it was an absolute mess. 

“Ugh, disgusting. I knew he was gross, but, his home is absolutely horrible!” Zim exclaimed. “Just look at this place! It looks just as bad as your room, GIR!”   
GIR only giggled. 

Zim walked over to the nearby window, hoping to get a good look outside, but, he wasn’t able to even get anywhere close to the window before he was attacked! A figure about his height had leapt out from the closet and tackled him to the floor. Zim let out a scream in horror as he summoned the robotic legs from his PAK, ready to strike his attacker. Then he realized, the figure had stopped. He looked up at saw Dib! He looked exceptionally frazzled and was wielding a large cutting knife. 

“... Zim??”   
“Dib! You’re alive!?” 

Dib jumped back, letting Zim get back on his feet. Although, now that he noticed who it was, he had the feeling be still should’ve ended it there. But, at least Zim wasn’t one of them. As much as he hated and despised him, Zim was still alive, and it was good to see a familiar face. Even if that familiar face was the scourge of space. 

When Dib didn’t answer Zim, he continued talking. “Dib, do you have any idea what’s going on out there!? The humans have gone INSANE! Even MORE so than usual!” 

Dib turned to look out the window, and looked down, noticing the horde growing outside of his home. He was shaking, and it was visibly noticeable. 

“They’re zombies.” he explained.  
“Zam-bees?” Zim asked, raising a brow at the human. “DO THE BEES CONTROL THEM?! I KNEW I SHOULD’VE STARTED MY WAR AGAINST THEM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!” 

“What? No! Shut up for a second-- let me explain!” Dib paced around the room as Zim and GIR stared at him, waiting for that so called explanation. “Zombies were once humans, get it? But, I’m guessing there’s a virus going around that’s causing people to get sick and turn into them!” 

“It’s in the AIR!?” Zim asked, terrified. 

“Most likely-- but, you haven’t been affected-- I haven’t been affected.” he looked down at GIR and noticed the robot look back up at him with a smile. “And your robot definitely won’t contract whatever it is.” 

“But, it’s still in the AIR!” Zim was visibly freaking out now, wondering how to avoid such a crisis. “I need to get off this planet! GIR, we’re returning home!” 

“You’re leaving!? Why now of all times!?” Dib asked angrily. “You’re chickening out when things turn sour?!” 

“ZIM IS NO POULTRY!!” He screamed back. “If this ‘virus’ is caused from being in the air, I need to leave!” 

“A mighty Irken Invader is giving up on his mission? That’s sad, Zim-- even for you! I knew I had nothing to worry about. It’s been a year and you haven’t even done ANYTHING!” 

A mighty Irken Invader. Zim could only chuckle. If only that were true. Still, he was glad at least someone still believed this facade. Even Zim believed it for a long while. 

“Oh, no, I’ll be back!” Zim insisted. “I’ll be back with ultimate weapons that will obliterate every zambee in existence! Then, the world will be mine for the TAKING!” 

“But, getting rid of the zombies would be helping us out.” 

“LIES!!” 

Suddenly there was a banging at the door that made them both jump. GIR backed away towards the window, screaming in terror. Dib looked between the two and then back at the loud banging on the door. 

“Did they get in!?”   
“No, it’s your father unit and scary sister.”   
“Dad and Gaz!?” Dib began to run towards the door. “Why didn’t you let them in if they’re safe!?” 

“DIB, DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR!” Zim yelled back.   
“That’s my family, Zim!” he yelled back, attempting to shove the bookcase aside. “They’ll be safer in here!” 

“Listen to ZIM!”   
“No! Shut up!” 

Finally, the bookcase was moved and the door was unlocked and opened. Dib was ready to accept his family with loving arms. Even if they wouldn’t do the same. 

“Dad! Gaz! You’re alr--” 

They were far from alright. Dib’s eyes widened at the realization of seeing them, deader than a doornail in front of him. He began shaking, and looking between the two of them. The began advancing, and Dib took steps backwards, avoiding their grasps. 

“What …? But, how …?” Dib asked in disbelief. “Th-they’re gone …?” 

Without a moment to spare, he was yanked back by Zim who had leapt in front of the alarmed boy. The legs from his PAK emerged once again, shanking both of the zombies through the bodies. 

“NO!” Dib screamed.   
“THEY’RE DEAD, DIB!” he turned back to them, struggling to stay up with the weight of two of them on the legs.

However, they didn’t stop moving. It only seemed to make them angrier, and they lashed out at the small alien. 

“Why didn’t that work!? I pierced their squishy human bellies!”   
“The brain …” Dib said quietly.   
“Eh???”   
“Aim for the brain …” 

Heeding Dib’s instructions, Zim retracted the spider legs, making the zombies fall to the ground. Now they were crawling towards the boys, and with literal seconds to spare, Zim thrusted the robotic legs into the skulls, watching as the zombie’s bodies fell limp. 

Out of breath once again, Zim took a moment to realize this was his first kill on Earth. His first attack on the human race. Right about now he’d feel overwhelmingly happy, but, something didn’t feel right. Behind him, Dib fell to his knees, still in shock. 

“YAYYYY~” GIR cheered behind them, clapping his doggy hands together.   
“GIR, not now!” The robot silenced himself and the two looked at Dib. 

He was a mess. He was shaking like a leaf, and struggling to even form words, let alone sentences. Tears began to well up in his eyes as a smile crept along his face. 

“I … I thought I would be ready for this. I prepared for this my whole life … for a zombie apocalypse …” he brought his sleeved arm to wipe his eyes. “I didn’t think this would happen …” 

“Dib-stink, we need to move.” Zim said in an almost sympathetic voice. He walked past the sobbing human and opened the window, trying to find an easy escape route. 

Dib chuckled a bit. “They’re dead … I could’ve helped them …” tears fell once again. “They’re dead and now there’s nothing I can do …” 

“DIB!” Zim exclaimed. “HURRY!” 

“I’m not going with you, Zim. If you’re leaving to go back to space, there’s nothing there for me. I can’t join the enemy.” 

“There’s nothing left for you here, though!” Zim insisted. “Zim is offering you a hand. You dare REFUSE my HAND OF HELPING!?” 

Dib turned to him, and for once saw a look of worry in the Irken’s eyes. Was he serious about taking him with him into space? This was insane! But, the Earth was falling. The Irken hadn’t won, but, Earth was gone. Unless the government could do something, the Earth was as good as dead. He finally got up and turned to the alien, extending a hand. 

“Truce? At least for now. If the Earth takes a turn for the better, I WILL take you down alien!” 

A smirk crossed Zim’s face as he took Dib’s hand, violently shaking it. “And if it does come back from the ashes, Zim will take this planet for HIMSELF!” 

Forgetting about what the Tallest had told him just for a moment, he was prepared for a comeback. The Earth was still his for the taking, and no matter what he was told, he knew he was an Invader. If Dib could see that, that’s all he could ask for. 

With a truce placed before them, the duo (plus GIR) headed back to Zim’s base. It was time to do some plotting.


	2. No Way Out

The sun was beginning to set in the sky by the time the trio made it back to Zim’s base. They had little issues with any zombies, so they were able to make it there with little to no damage. Emotionally, they were all rather startled by the events that took place that day. Especially Dib, having lost his family in such a short amount of time. Welcoming his enemy into his base, which was something he didn’t think he’d find himself doing intentionally, they walked into the house. 

Zim removed the scratchy wig and the irritating contacts from his eyes, storing them into his PAK. They were leaving Earth, so for now, they’d be of no use to him. Zim raised a brow when he noticed both his enemy and his companion were sitting on the couch, looking rather dejected at the wall. He crossed his arms and approached them, impatiently waiting for them to move. However, neither one did. 

“Well? We didn’t come back to just mope around. We need to be off! Let’s hurry!” muttered angrily at the duo. Dib didn’t say a word, and barely even looked over at the alien aside from a barely visible side glance. 

“I don’t wanna go,” GIR replied, the antennae atop his head drooping. “I like the Earth …” 

“GIR, our mission was to DESTROY the earth! Don’t say such despicable things!”  
“But, Earth has the Angry Monkey Show-- and taquitos!”  
“Yes, yes, it has all your favorite things-- but, you will find OTHER favorite things!” 

“Not that it matters,” Dib began. Zim and GIR looked over at him. “With the zombie virus spreading, everything will eventually shut down. The government will fail to do anything, humanity will slowly be on the decline … it’s hopeless …” 

Suddenly, a twisted idea came to the Irken. With humanity slowly fading out and being replaced with these mindless zombies, that would be the chance to end Earth as they knew it! But, he needed to wait for more of the population to be afflicted-- and he needed the Tallest to help him. Without the Armada, there would be nothing to devoid the Earth of these creatures. If Zim had such struggles taking down only two zombies, then he feared what would happen when facing a horde. This plan was foolproof! However, just as he was about to explain his plan to the others, he remembered the little setback the Tallest had told him-- about not being an Invader. 

_‘Perhaps if I can find the Armada, I can convince them in person to consider my plan! My mission my have been a lie, but, the Tallest won’t DARE refuse this! It’s settled!’_

He stood in front of the two on the couch, hands folded behind his back, chest puffed out, and ready to whip them into shape. He was done with this horrid mopiness coming from them. It was time to take action! 

“GIR! Dib! To your feet! We’re leaving for the Armada!” 

Dib glanced up, wide eyed at Zim’s exclamation. “The Armada …? We’re going to your _leaders_?!” 

“YES! INDEED!” Zim paced back and forth in front of them, explaining his plan. “The Earth is doomed now Dib, no matter how you look at it. You may have been Earth’s ‘Sole Defender’ in the past, but now, you _can’t_ protect them!” 

Coming from his own mouth, Dib would’ve just shrugged it off, but for some reason hearing it come from Zim made it sting even more. It wasn’t just the fact that he let all of humanity down or that he couldn’t save the Earth after all, but, it was because he couldn’t help his family. He felt as if they died because of him. His chest ached with a guilt that stung horribly. 

“Accept your loss, and come with me to the Armada! If you’re lucky, the Tallest may end up being gracious and making you a slave monkey! Now, THAT, would be generous!” 

“It beats staying here,” he replied. “Like you said, I have nothing left for me here.” GIR placed his paw on Dib’s arm, rubbing it soothingly as his ears drooped, saddened by the boy’s words. 

“Exactly! Come with Zim! At least then you won’t have to live on this horrid planet anymore!” 

Dib looked up at Zim and raised a brow. “Why do you want me to go with you so badly?” 

“Eh?” Zim’s antennae flattened and he squinted at the human. “Why?”

To be honest, he wasn’t sure himself. Was it out of pity, or something more? In the year that he had come to live on Earth, he had formed a certain dynamic with Dib that he didn’t have with anybody else. A rivalry, definitely, but even though he despised his enemy, he couldn’t just let him rot with other rotting corpses. What fun would that be? 

“When I arrived here, I thought this planet would be easy pickings. You made it difficult for me. I suppose you made it … _fun_.” Zim said, waving his hand about. “You’re my enemy, yes, but, I won’t just leave you here.” 

“Zim …” 

“Now, would you rather stay here and face the zam-bees alone? Or come with Zim and survive another day?” 

“But your leaders? Won’t they see me and do horrible, unspeakable things to me?’ 

“Oh, yes, yes, of course they will! BUT, doesn’t that beat getting attacked by a zam-bee!?” 

“Point taken.” Dib sighed, closing his eyes as he debated on what to do. Finally, he looked up at Zim, defeated. “Alright. Let’s go …” 

GIR surprisingly was the first to hop off the couch and run down one of the chutes to the lower parts of the base, dog disguise still intact. It took him a moment to finally accept his fate, but Dib stood up, and walked in a dignified way, as the prisoner he was about to become. As they walked to the toilet that would take them down the same chute GIR took, Zim looked at his enemy, actual sympathy in his eyes. 

“Dib, I’m sorry about your father unit and scary sister.” 

Dib looked at him, utterly confused at the apologetic nature of what Zim said. It felt strange to receive any kind of apology or sympathy from the alien. 

“What …?” he retorted. 

“Zim knows nothing of family or love, but, I’ve been around humans long enough to know that you loved them with every ounce of your disgusting organs. Zim is sorry. That is all.” 

Without another word, Zim was the first into the toilet, taking the chute down and leaving Dib up on the first floor. A small smile crept across his face, weirdly touched by what Zim had to say. It was nice that Zim was trying to get an understanding of what happened. 

“Ugh, pull yourself together Dib,” he whispered to himself, shaking away the gratefulness he felt. “He probably meant nothing by it. He’s a ruthless conqueror-- nothing more!” Without another word, he followed them down the chute as well.

* * *

Dib had never used the technology in Zim’s base, but he was sure that going down the chute wouldn’t have been so … glitchy or give him motion sickness. Once he was down into the bottom most parts of the base, he joined the alien and his robot. 

“Is your chute always that glitchy? It stopped like five times on my way down.” 

“It usually doesn’t do that, no. But, perhaps it was your morbidly obese human body that stopped it!” 

“I’m not … morbidly obese.” 

“I once saw a super fat duck before~” GIR explained, “Now HE was morbidly obese!” he giggled as he turned to his master and friend. “But, we’re friends now! He was funny~” 

“GIR! Enough! Ready the Voot! We’re preparing for launch soon!” 

From within his dog suit, GIR’s teal eyes turned a crimson red and he saluted Zim. “Yes, my master!” 

After several seconds he phased out of duty mode and ran like a maniac through the metallic chambers and into the Voot loading dock. Zim guided Dib to said room, occasionally glancing back to make sure the human wasn’t touching anything or snooping about. For one who was annoyingly curious about his base, Dib was abnormally quiet. 

“I’m surprised you’re not taking advantage of me welcoming you into my base! Such a strange creature you are!” 

“Can you blame me, Zim? I just lost my family. I could really do without the insults.” 

“Yes, I know this. After all, I was the one who did away with your family, no?” 

Dib went quiet. He had no witty retort for what Zim had said.It took him a moment before he replied. 

“You didn’t kill them … they were already dead …” 

“You seem to know a lot about these Zam-bees, Dib. Have they existed before?’ 

Dib shook his head-- although, Zim couldn’t see. “No, up until now, everyone believed they were fake-- nothing more than horror stories and movies.” he rolled his eyes, thinking back to a minor accident he caused. “I mean, I MAY have raised the dead once in my life … but, my dad and I put an end to that real quick.” 

“Do you think maybe YOU caused this outbreak?” 

Dib felt hurt by this accusation and stomped his foot. “How could you say that!? I wouldn’t endanger humanity like that!” 

Before the argument could be taken any further, GIR came trotting back, saluting to Zim and Dib once again, confirming that the Voot was ready for their departure. Zim had no more to say to Dib, and Dib had no more witty comebacks to shout at Zim. It was time to go to space, whether Dib was prepared for it or not. 

The trio entered the Voot loading dock, but something seemed strange. Usually, whenever Zim entered the room, the lights would automatically come on. As would most of the panels and machinery. That was bizarre, but no matter, the Voot should be properly working, according to the Irken. 

“These are but minor setbacks!” Zim explained. “We only need power for a split second to initiate liftoff!” 

Dib glanced around, seeing the panels flicker on and off occasionally. Could this perhaps have something to do with the city’s power grid shutting down? He had read all about these kinds of situations in many books, but, was this really the case? 

The trio entered the spacecraft, and Zim attempted to prepare for liftoff. After a few failed attempts at preparing it, a popping noise erupted from the ships engine. His antennae flew up, shocked by the sudden noise. 

“Eh??” he hopped out, leaving Dib and GIR inside. “What’s wrong now!?” 

Suddenly, Dib caught a whiff of something putrid in the air. It smelled like … gasoline? He frantically looked around, and then back at GIR who only gave him a happy smile. At least one of them was happy. Dib, however, had a horrible sense of dread. Goosebumps formed on his skin as he tried to figure out where that smell was coming from. The Voot? 

“Computer! Run a diagnostics!” Zim commanded. There was no answer. “COMPUTER!!” 

“Uh, Zim,” Dib hopped out of the cockpit, joining Zim. “Something seems wrong. Like, really wrong.” 

Zim ignored the human and stepped closer to the Voot, trying to figure out what was possibly wrong with it. Dib heard him sniff the air, so, he should be able to smell the gas too. Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to get out of there. But, why? What had he failed to recognize? 

Suddenly, the ground began heaving for a moment, and the lights flickered before turning back on. Everyone looked up, seeing sparks fly from several wires. Dib watched in fear as the sparks dropped down towards the spaceship. 

“ **Booting up**.” the computer announced. **“Electrical output low. Entering power save mode.** ” 

“Power save mode?!” Zim parroted back. “NO! We need to leave now!” 

“Zim, back up!”  
“Eh?” 

The sparks seemed to have found the gas leak and in a split second began to combust! An explosion occurred at the combination, and sent the three flying. Dib was seeing stars by the time he came to, seeing flames surround the three of them. GIR, who had been blasted out of the cockpit, was rolling around, a flame attached to the rump of his suit.. Dib swiftly got to his feet and ran over to the robot, attempting to put out the small flame. When he succeeded, a scorch mark was the only thing that remained. 

“Zim, we gotta go, now!” he glanced back and noticed the silhouette of the Irken watching as his spacecraft was engulfed in flames. He didn’t move. Much like how Dib was earlier, he was probably in shock. Without thinking, he grabbed Zim by the arm and yanked him along. Once he was snapped out of his astonishment, Zim began running faster than either of them. 

The chutes no longer worked, and their way out was lost. In an instant, the robotic legs from Zim’s PAK emerged, and he grabbed hold of his enemy and companion, pulling them up to safety with him. Ascending the chute was a cramped escape, but they did manage to escape nonetheless! They weren’t out of the woods yet, however. The flames were creeping in through the wires and floor, heating up the floor the closer they got to the surface. 

The three ran for the front door, not taking a moment to glance back at the carnage. Explosions could be heard from behind them, and just as the three reached the outside world, a massive explosion blasted them forward, launching the three out into the street. 

When he came to, Dib could taste blood in his mouth. His head was hurting horribly, and he was seeing stars again. He struggled to get to his knees, feeling pain in parts of his body he didn’t even know existed. He first found GIR whose eye was now dangling by a thread from his suit. He approached Dib and booped his nose, making sure he was okay. He waved his hand at the robot’s paw, making him stop. GIR was alright, but where was Zim? 

Through the growing pain in his legs, he turned back to what remained of Zim’s base. It was nothing but a burning inferno now. Standing before the carnage, Zim’s silhouette stood, shaking. Dib groaned in pain as he inched towards the Irken. 

“Zim, are you okay?” he asked, walking slowly closer. The Irken didn’t respond. 

“Yeah, things look bleak now, but …” But what? Everything seemed bleak now. That was their ticket out of here, and now the plan burst into flames … literally! Was there anything they could do? “Zim …?” 

“Advanced Irken technology … obliterated … all in the blink of an eye …”  
“Zim …”  
“This was a mistake. All of it. I should’ve known.” 

Dib’s ear twitched when he heard the oncoming noises of growls and groans from in the distance. It was no mistake on what they were. Zombies were closing in on them. Zim’s base was like a beacon in the dark city, and it was no doubt that they were being attracted to it like moths. 

“Zim, the zombies! They’re coming!” 

GIR in panic, clung to Dib’s leg as he looked around trying to spot the oncoming zombies. They could hear them, but they couldn’t see them. 

“It’s hopeless. You said it yourself-- the virus is in the air.” The Irken turned to the human, visibly upset. “We’ll be dead soon.” 

“You don’t know that, Zim! Come on!” Dib cried, “That’s not the alien scourge I know! The Zim I know would never stand for defeat!” 

Zim turned away, back towards his burning home. “The Zim you knew had something going for him. Now? Zim has nothing.” 

From the nearby yards, the zombies emerged, hordes of them, attracted to the burning flames. Had they noticed the trio standing there yet? Dib couldn’t be certain, but his heart was thumping out of his chest at the idea of them coming any closer. He turned to Zim, grabbing him by his shoulders and staring him in the eyes. 

“Zim, get it together!” he blurted. “You can’t give up! You can beat this world! You’re an Irken-- and what do Irkens do?” 

“Invade planets …?” Zim asked, raising a brow. “Study their weaknesses, and prepare for it’s downfall.” 

“So, think of this as a test! This is only a minor setback, right?!” he shook the alien violently, trying to snap him back to reality. “You’re an invader, Zim! Now, act like one!” 

Zim’s eyes widened when Dib shouted those words. In an instant, his mopiness subsided and a look of courage came back to his eye. 

“You’re right for once, Dib-smelly!” he shoved the human off of him. “I can’t give up yet! I will take this world-- whether the Tallest believe in me or not!” 

“YEAH!” Dib cheered. 

“I am ZIM! I AM NO WIMP!” 

“YEAH! YOU’RE NOT!” 

“AND ZIM--” he let out a horrified shriek as a zombie closed in on Dib’s humongous head. A single spider leg stretched from his PAK, shanking the zombie through the skull. “Nearly let you die. Let’s get out of here.” 

Zim grabbed GIR in his arms to avoid any unnecessary noises as they ran. They fled into the darkness of yards and back alleys, hoping to avoid any more zombies. Luckily for them, the light from the fire created. 

“If we can make it back to my house, I have some supplies we can use! If we can clear out the house, we should be safe for the night. I think our best bet would be to head to the school at daybreak. Perhaps there we could find some more supplies.” Dib noticed he was talking to much, and stopped himself. Then he heard a gasp from Zim. 

“Wait! Tak’s ship!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “Have you gotten her ship fully operational yet?! We can use that and blast ourselves off of this filthy planet!” 

“I’ve tried … but, without any Irken technology, we probably can’t get it started. Not to mention it has her personality interface in it. It’ll destroy us before we even try to get out of the garage.” 

“But, it could still be a plan B, right?’ 

“Oh yeah, definitely. Does your alien thingy on your back come with any tools to jumpstart a ship?” 

“I wish-- but, everything’s in the loading dock back at my base. Or, was at least.” 

Dib cursed under his breath. There goes their second plan of escaping. But, between his knowledge and Zim’s equipment he has in his PAK, this new world should be a walk in the park for them. The two remained silent for a long while before Zim broke the silence. 

“Dib,” Dib looked over at him. “Thank you.” 

“Thank you? For what?’ 

“Zim needed that back there. So, uh … thanks-- I suppose.” 

“Well, I’m gonna need you and your technology if we’re gonna beat this world.”  
“You only saved Zim for his BENEFITS TO YOU?”  
“I mean, yeah, pretty much. I dunno.”  
“ … As soon as the zam-bees are done with, I’ll kill you myself.”  
“Deal.” 

“Awww, you two are bein’ friends~” GIR said happily. 

“Shut it, GIR.” both replied in a quick response.

* * *

By the time they reached Dib’s house, the moon was already rising in the sky. The streets were completely dark, and the lamp posts were flickering. Everything was quiet, and it seemed as if the zombie hoards had moved on. Zim lowered GIR to the ground, and they checked to see what they had. 

“Do you still have the absurdly large knife?”  
“Of course. I wouldn’t leave home in a zombie apocalypse without it.” 

Zim turned to GIR and glared at his doggy sidekick. “GIR, listen up, and listen good. You will stay behind us and protect us from the rear. If anything should come up from behind, you will take it out with your eye lasers. Understood?” 

Gir once again gave a salute and removed the hood from his disguise. His eyes were red, signifying that he was indeed in Duty Mode. “Yes, Master!” 

“And I will use my incredibly functional PAK to manifest impressive amounts of-” 

He seemed to be talking to no one, because Dib and GIR had already begun making their way towards the house. Zim spat in anger and chased after them, readying himself by their sides. It was time to infiltrate Dib’s house a second time. Before they reached the front door, Zim reminded Dib of something. 

“When GIR and I arrived earlier, we locked the front entrance. We can’t get in that way.”  
“Oh, great thinking, ZIM! How do we get in now?!” 

Zim looked for a way of entry and finally saw the window to Dib’d room. He smirked an evil grin. “The same way we left earlier! Grab a hold of Zim!” Without any hesitations, both Dib and GIR grabbed a hold of the Irken and watched as the spider legs came from his PAK, carrying them up the side of the house and in through the window, simple as can be. 

Once inside, Zim lowered them to the ground and studied the room they had been in earlier. The first them all three of them noticed was the pair of dead corpses still at the doorway. Dib sighed and approached them, clenching his fists as he stood before them. Zim and GIR walked to each side of him and looked at him. 

“We can’t leave them here …” he said quietly. “I can’t look at them any longer, and … I wanna say goodbye for real.” 

Zim nodded, not questioning Dib’s human morals, helping him drag the corpses to a seperate room. Understanding that Dib would need a moment, Zim insisted to clean out the rest of the house of any undead that may have wandered in. He and GIR went to investigate as Dib said his final farewells to his family. 

They returned several minutes later, happy to report that no zombies had made it into the house. Dib left the room, tears having welled up in his eyes. Zim approached him with a pouty face and grabbed the human’s own shirt, bringing it up under his glasses to wipe his eyes away. 

“Enough of the gross eye water! You’ll be fine!” he let go of the shirt and it fell back into place. Dib’s face was visibly red-- either from embarrassment or having cried for a bit. Either way, he simply nodded and had them follow him to his room. 

Once in his room, Dib immediately took to his bookcase, throwing aside any comics or other books that wouldn’t be useful in this situation. When he wasn’t able to find what he was looking for in the darkness, he went to his desk and found a flashlight. Crossing his fingers and hoping that it worked, he turned it on and to everyone’s surprise there was light! He hurried back to his bookshelf, continuing to sort through the books and finally found what he was looking for. 

“Here it is!” he turned and gave it to Zim as he flashed the light on it. “I’ve read through this book several times over! It has a lot of amazing info that could help us out during this whole situation!” 

Zim raised a brow at him and glanced down, reading the title. “World War Z: The Zam-bee Survival Guide …?” he looked back up at Dib with a worried expression, “If zam-bees weren’t ever suppose to exist, then how do you know this isn’t fiction?” 

“Hey, everyone said aliens weren’t real and here you are.”  
“Point.” 

Dib walked over to his closet next, searching through his clothes and things they may need. As he searched, Zim attempted to flip through the pages of the book and read whatever he could see, but the room was just too dark. His concentration was broken when Dib through a dark colored piece of clothing at him, covering his head. 

“The weather is going to be getting colder soon.” Dib stripped off his trenchcoat and slipped on his own hoodie over top his blue shirt. “I don’t know how accustom you are to cold, but, that’s there if you need it.” 

Zim set the book aside and studied the clothing. It was soft-- unlike the tunic he usually wore. Even through his gloves he could feel the soft texture of the hoodie. He had spent a winter on Earth, and from what he gathered, it could be brutal. Best to be safe than sorry. He slid it on over his tunic and popped his head through the neck hole. It felt … weird. But, it was definitely warmer. 

As Dib threw out this and that onto the ground, GIR found himself fiddling with many of the stray objects, giggling and having a blast with the strange objects. Finally, GIR picked up something that made Zim want to question Dib. It was a small green doll of sorts with a red body and black limbs. Two threads of string were attatched to its head, and needles pertruded it’s body. 

“Dib. What is that and why does it resemble me?” 

Dib glanced back to see GIR playing with a small stuffed Zim. One couldn’t see in the dark, but Dib’s face grew redder. 

“It’s uh … a failed voodoo doll. Didn’t work, so I scrapped it and threw it in here.” he swallowed a lump in his throat and went back to searching in his closet. Fuck. How could he have let that leave the confines of his closet. 

Zim didn’t know whether to feel flattered or … weird. At least it had failed? Nonetheless, he picked up the book he had set aside and glanced back at GIR who seemed to have a new play thing. It was definitely going to be weird having that thing lugged around. 

“Aha!” Dib finally said, breaking the silence. From his his dark closet he pulled out a metallic baseball bat. He stumbled out of the closet and showed his findings to Zim. “This is what I was looking for! See? It’s a baseball bat.” 

“Base … ball …?” 

“It’s a sport humans play-- er, well, played. When Gaz and I were younger our dad took us to a baseball game for a day. Gaz didn’t care for it, but, I’m just glad I got this bat! I knew it’d come in handy!” 

“That’s going to be your weapon?” Zim asked concerned. 

“Listen, I’ve seen a show about zombies with a guy who caused real havoc using a baseball bat.” he paused and hummed in thought. “Although … he did have barbed wire around his.” 

“Dib, you’re scaring me.”  
“Mhmmmm!” GIR agreed. 

“Besides … it’s a keepsake. It’s the only thing I really have left of my family.”  
“Your human sentiment is making me sick.” Zim gagged.  
“Sorry … it must be annoying …”  
“It is, but, Zim understands. Sorta.” 

“Oh!” Dib had forgotten one final touch and returned back to the closet. “There’s one more thing I want to grab!” When he returned to Zim, Dib bore a snapback hat in which his scythe like hair escaped the parted area. 

Zim muffled a chuckle. “What on Irk is that??”  
“It’s a hat! I think it makes me look cool!”  
“You look like an idiot.”  
“Yeah, well, who asked you?” 

GIR chimed in, pointing at the top of Dib’s head. “His hair is all poofy. Poofy poof~” 

“GIR, enough! We need to prepare for tomorrow!”  
GIR’s eyes turned red followed by a salute. 

“It’s late. We should probably rest.” Dib headed over to his bed, throwing a pillow and blanket at Zim and GIR. Zim caught the pillow, squishing it in his hands. 

“Rest? Irkens need no sleep.” he insisted.  
“So, you’re going to stay up all night?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, in that case-- you can stand guard. We don’t need any Zombies breaking in.” 

“Yes, yes. You let your human body ‘rest’ and I shall stand guard! GIR-- do whatever it is that … you do.” 

GIR nodded and struck a dramatic pose before falling back onto the blanket and pillow, snuggling up comfortably. 

Dib felt strange expecting to sleep with his enemy in such close quarters with him. He was in his room-- his lair of solitude-- after all. But, at the same time, he felt rather safe with him being here with him. If what he said is true, and Irkens don’t need rest, then he could trust Zim to stand guard. They were both scared-- he knew of this. He knew Zim was confused and had no idea what to expect from any of this. He could only trust Zim, and hope he’d wake him up if anything happened. 

Despite being in the lion’s den and being close to his enemy, Dib somehow managed to fall asleep. For once, he didn’t fear Zim’s intentions anymore.


	3. Familiar Faces

Dib was standing in a white field-- or was it more of a white space? He couldn’t be sure, due to the blinding light coming from all around him. Where was he? Was he still in his room? Where was Zim and GIR? Dib could barely get his bearings before he saw two shapes on the horizon. They were far away, so he couldn’t make them out. Perhaps they were Zim and his robot? 

Dib tried to pick up his feet to move forward, but with every movement came immense struggling. It felt like his feet were weighed down by some weird force. Every movement, it felt like he was getting farther and farther away from the silhouettes. Then he noticed they were walking away from him. What was going on? 

Finally, he tried calling out who he thought it was. “Zim! GIR!” No answer. He raised a brow when they just kept walking away and ignored him. Pushing through the weighted feeling he tried moving faster until he was making progress. When he was less than a yard away, the figures stopped. His stomach dropped when he realized upon closer inspection one of them was too tall to be Zim, and the other was just tall enough not to be GIR. As soon as they came to a halt, so did Dib. His eyes widened in horror as the figures turned around, revealing a very much torn apart and bloody Membrane and Gaz. 

Tears began to well up in the boy’s eyes as he brought a shaky hand hand up to try and reach them, but the distance between them was too great. They didn’t look like zombies, but rather themselves-- except all the blood and guts. They were looking at him without saying a word. They had a neutral expression about them. Meanwhile, Dib was on the verge of tears. Finally, Gaz spoke up. 

“Hey, how come you didn’t help us when we needed it? You like seeing your family die?” 

Her words made the tears flow from his eyes as his chest began to ache with horror and melancholy. He went to speak, but the words wouldn't’ form. Then he realized, he wasn’t able to talk. Was it because he was so upset? Or were other forces at work? The figures of his family stepped closer, each step their faces curving into horrific, unnatural expressions. Dib felt like he would die on the spot. 

“Son, how many times have I told you not to raise the dead? See what your shenanigans have caused?” 

Dib wanted to cry out and apologize for hiding. He wanted to tell them how he thought they were safe. He wanted to tell them so many things that he never got the chance to say, but, his mouth produced no words. They kept drawing closer, getting more twisted and demented every step they took. By the time they were on top of Dib, he was hunched over, knees tucked in, sobbing. 

“It’s _your_ fault that we’re dead.”   
“This never would’ve happened if you studied _real_ science.”   
“Are you happy now? Are you happy we’re _dead_?”   
“I’ve never been more _disappointed_ in you, Dib. Where did I go wrong?” 

Heavy breaths escaped Dib as he tried desperately to take control of the situation. He peered up, seeing their shadows move in an unearthly way. They looked more zombie-like now as their hands reached for Dib. His eyes widened and he tried to scream, but just like before, nothing escaped him. 

“This world will _break_ you.”   
“You think Zim can protect you? He knows _nothing_.”   
“ _You’re already dead_.” 

The once white paradise surrounding Dib was nothing more than a sick, twisted shadowy Hell. He felt his family’s grasp on him, seemingly pulling him deeper into the darkness of whatever Hell he was in. Screaming wasn’t working, and before he knew it, he couldn’t breathe. 

Just as his family had said-- he was dead.

* * *

Dib jolted awake from within his bed, letting out an audible yelp, glancing around in the darkness. From his window, he could see moonlight slipping in, and beside it sat Zim in a chair he had pulled up with the book Dib gave him earlier in hand. The Irken looked back at him in shock, spooked by his sudden outburst. Dib was back in his room-- back where he had left off. The familiar smell of his room, mixed with the horrible, rotten smell of flesh was back. Strange as it was, he welcomed it. 

Zim raised a brow at the human. His eyes seemingly glowed in the moonlight. “Are you OKAY??” 

Dib was practically in a cold sweat after such a horrible nightmare. His face was wet with tears, and he was shaking horribly. He looked over at Zim and gave him a shaky nod. 

“It was just a bad nightmare,” he explained, trying to steady his breathing. 

“A bad nightmare …” Zim parroted back, staring out the window into the dark streets outside. He held the book opened in his gloved hands, having read a majority of it already. “Is that what _this_ is?” 

Dib sighed shakily, throwing his head back into his pillow. “No. This is real, unfortunately …” Zim’s antennae flattened at his remark, and went back to the book. 

“When did this start? Zim never noticed it.” he asked, glancing over the pages. “Everything was fine at school the other day, then I heard it had closed. Something about an awful human sickness going around.” Zim spat at the germy images in his head. 

“Yeah. As soon as school closed down, things began to take a turn for the worst.” he sat up again, this time inching towards the end of his bed to talk to Zim fact to face. “I had a hunch of what it was, but I hadn’t realized what was happening until it was practically at our doorstep” 

“You mean the zam-bees?” 

“Yeah. They showed up without warning. It was terrifying because we thought it was a neighbor at first. Dad was a bit skeptical, but I was even more skeptical.” He balled his hand into a fist, grasping the bed sheets tightly. 

Zim’s antennae twitched as Dib said that. Seeing that first hand must’ve been terrifying. 

“I knew what it was, and warned Gaz to hide. She … completely blew me off. Dad went to talk to the neighbor and I took to my room searching for answers.” he sighed, closing his eyes as he thought back on it. “I shouldn’t have left them down there …” 

“They should’ve listened to you.” Zim replied callously. Dib flinched at his reply. “If they had then they could still be alive right now.” 

“I guess …” Dib glanced out the window, staring up at the moon, wondering how many hours of dark they had left. Though, he felt like he wasn’t going to get very much sleep for the rest of the night. “Have you seen anything so far?” 

Zim nodded. “A couple of groaning beasts walking the streets. Nothing too much to note. They wandered off within a few minutes.” 

Dib nodded, accepting it as a truth. In a scenario like this, he didn’t expect Zim to want to lie. He was just as new to this whole scenario as Dib was. Even though he had clearly studied up on it and new what to expect and what to do, acting it out was completely different. 

“Hey, Zim?”  
“Yes, Dib-stink?”   
“Do you ever miss your home? Did you ever wish you could go back?” 

What a curious question, Zim thought. Why would he ask such a ridiculous question in a time like this? There was no way to return, even if he could. Even the Tallest had given their actual thoughts on Zim. Did he really have a home to return to? He wouldn’t have been welcomed if he did. Everything from earlier in the day kept playing over and over in his head. Finally, he simply replied. 

“Yes. But, that doesn’t matter anymore, now does it?” If it came down to it, he’d rather not bring up the Tallest or what had happened before Zim left his base. It didn’t concern the human, and frankly, he just didn’t want to talk about it. 

“I guess it doesn’t … I know how you feel though. I don’t really have a home to go back to either.” 

“You talk nonsense, Dib. We’re in your home, aren’t we?”   
“I have no family left Zim. We can’t stay here forever either.” 

“Ah, yes, I read something like that in this book. Always keep moving, right?”   
“Exactly.” 

The two went quiet, not needing to continue their conversation further. At first light, they would head to the school to see what they could find in terms of supplies. Hopefully people hadn’t gone into mass hysteria yet and tried to take everything from places. Dib hadn’t realized until now, but earlier when they were heading to Zim’s base, everyone was packing up their vehicles with supplies. They had the right idea-- they were getting out of the city. Dib didn’t want to spend more time than they had to in the city. A quick stop to the school, maybe get into a hospital or a supermarket then be on their way. The longer they stayed in such an urban area, the more chances they had of not escaping easily. 

Then, Dib had a worrying concern. Of course finding food and water were going to be his own main priorities, but what about Zim? He had never seen the alien actually eat or drink anything in his presence. Everything he attempted to eat ended in pain and suffering, so, what would he do? 

“Hey, uh, what’re you going to do about food?” Dib asked, raising a brow. “Soon, the food will all go bad, and all that will be left is canned food. Are you gonna suck it up?” 

Zim glanced up at him, also seeming worried himself. “If need be, Zim can rely on his PAK for nutrients for a long while.” 

“PAK?” 

Zim raised a hand and smacked the metallic backpack like object attached to his spine. “The finest in Irken technology. When an Irken child is hatched, we are given this high tech devices to carry out our lives. It attaches to our spines and delivers nutrients and provides us with weapons among other technology-- as you know.” 

“And here I thought it was just a weird backpack with spider legs.”   
Zim only chuckled, “Dumb human.” 

“Zim will live off of human snacks as long as I am able.” he explained. “Then, when the time comes, I’ll depend on my PAK for my nutrients.”

“It doesn’t need to be charged?”   
“Not for a very long time. Invaders are always inhabiting hostile planets. We need to be prepared for a situation like this where it can’t be charged.” 

“Fair enough, I guess.” he worried for when his PAK would eventually run out of juice, but, he hoped that’d be far off in the future. Hopefully, that time would never come. As far as he was concerned, he needed Zim and his technology to survive this whole ordeal. 

Although Dib wasn’t very tired anymore, he wasn’t sure how to spend his time that night. If he went back to sleep, he ran the risk of having another horrible nightmare. If he stayed awake, he could prove to be detrimental to his and Zim’s mission. His immediate thoughts went to the Irken. He insisted he didn’t need sleep, but was it just a facade? 

“If you want, you can rest and I can take over.”   
“Nonsense. I told you, Irkens don’t need sleep.”   
“Well, at least let me take over guard. You can relax for a bit.” 

A very audible, loud sigh escaped Zim, accompanied with the rolling of his eyes. “Very well. I’ll humor you for now. Don’t fall asleep and get us killed.” 

“I don’t plan on it.” Dib hopped off his bed, swapping positions with Zim. 

Dib took his seat on the computer chair propped against the window, staring out into the darkness. Even with the light from the moonlight, and the occasional flickering of a street lamp, visibility was very limited. Maybe it was paranoia, but Dib was sure he had seen several zombies walking around in his yard. 

Zim had pulled out a flashlight and continued reading from his new spot on the bed. Much to his surprise, it was a lot comfier than the chair. Dib could only hope that the light from the flashlight wouldn’t attract any undead to their location, but, it wasn’t that bright to begin with. The moon was halfway across the sky; midnight. They had quite a lot of time left, so if Dib got the urge to sleep again, he’d swap out with Zim again. But, for now, he began a long vigil, standing guard.

* * *

Dib had ended up swapping with Zim once again in the night, and had actually managed to fall asleep again. He was awoke by a fierce jolt to his shoulder, and awoke once again in a panic. He glanced around the room, worried and then finally saw Zim beside him. The Irken gave him a neutral expression. 

“It’s daybreak.” he explained, looking towards the window. “You wanted to head to the school, yes?” 

Dib let out a grumbled yawn and nodded sleepily. “Yeah … jeez, don’t scare me like that.” 

“You wanted me to wake you up-- Zim woke you up.” he turned to GIR who was still wrapped up in his blanket cocoon on the ground. “GIR! Get up! We’re heading out!” 

“Mmmmmmm” the robot whined. “I dun waaaanaaaaaaa,” 

“I don’t CARE what you want. We’re leaving!” 

GIR sat up, rubbing his metallic eye and giving a very exaggerated yawn. Robots didn’t need sleep, and yet here GIR was proving that point wrong. “Okaaaaay.” he picked up the Zim voodoo doll he had been sleeping with and stored it in his head. Zim was rather … uncomfortable it was coming along with them. 

Once again, Dib retreated to his closet, grabbing a rather large backpack to throw over his shoulder. Compared to the size of his body, this bag looked massive. 

“We’re gonna need something to carry things. This oughta do.” he closed the door to his closet and walked over to Zim and GIR who were both stretching,grunting as they did. “Let’s check out downstairs for any food and things we may need. If you see any snacks you can grab them. Then to the garage, and then we’ll be off to the school.” 

Dib had always been grateful that his father was a scientist, because not only did it help with going up against Zim’s technology, but having such advanced technology could really help in situations such as these. Sadly, a lot of it would be going to waste since there was no power to feed it. 

He lead the way, stepping out of the room and into the hallway. According to Zim, he had made sure the house was all clear last night, so all should be good and safe for them. Just in case, however, Dib held his metallic bat in his hand, ready to pounce first should a zombie be lurking nearby. They descended the stairs, Dib knowing exactly where not to step for the wood beneath them to creak. Zim followed in his footsteps, careful not to make any creaking noises. 

On the first floor, it did seem the house was completely empty. The television still blinked with static and the lights would occasionally flicker on and off, giving them just enough light with the sunlight to see where they were going. Dib led the way to the kitchen, crawling up onto the countertops and checking the cupboards. GIR helped the cause by checking the cupboards at ground level, throwing around metal pots and pans which hit the ground with ear splitting clangs. Both Dib and Zim immediately shushed him, only to be retorted with giggles from the robot. 

“No, GIR, that’s not funny!” Zim said in a loud whisper. “Keep doing that and you’ll alert every zam-bee in the neighborhood!” 

An exaggerated gasp came from the robot as his eyes widened. He saluted Zim and went back to his own search, this time picking up a pot and gently setting it on the tiled floor. Meanwhile, Zim took to the countertops seeing plenty of folded bags of chips. Perfect! He snagged them as well as some sugary looking food on the ledges. Dib glanced back down to him and pointed to a nearby cabinet. 

“Look in the pantry, Zim. There’s plenty of sugary, snacky things in there.” 

Zim listened to the instructions and checked finding plenty of cookies, chips, and sugary candy. He also helped himself to the cereals. The more sugar the better, for an Irken. He stoed what he found in his PAK, watching the robot legs take his findings away. Dib looked over, curious as to how much could be stored in such a small space. Nonetheless, he had found what he wanted and hopped down to ground level with Zim and GIR. 

“Okay, that’s plenty of food for now. We need to eat sparingly-- me especially.” in his hand he held a can of food. Zim gagged when he noticed it was beans on the label. “Listen, Zim. In an apocalypse, you can’t afford to be picky. Well, maybe for an alien like you-- but for a human? No way.” 

He started for the front door, placing his hand on the knob, grasping it firmly. Dib had told himself he was ready to take on the world, but, as soon as his hand touched that knob, any courage he had vanished within an instant. He took a deep breath and took out his bat, holding it in his other hand. He glanced back at his new travelling companions. 

“Are we ready?” 

“Oh! Hold on!” Zim cried. Out came his PAK legs, each holding a piece of his disguise. He fixed the wig on his head and placed his contact lenses in. GIR simply pulled up his hood with ease. Convinced that they were blending in, Zim gave Dib a thumbs up. 

“Really, Zim? You’re worried about your disguise? Even I know you’re not a threat anymore. No one’s going to care if you’re an alien anymore.” 

“LIES AND SLANDER, DIB!” Zim cried back. “I can’t be too careful! You never know what SICK FREAKS are out there! AND ONE DAY I WILL CONQUER THIS PLANET!” 

“Yeah, yeah, so are you ready then?” 

Zim nodded, shutting up as GIR gave two thumbs up. Dib turned his attention back to the door and slowly opened it, ready to swing his bat at any undead. He peered out through the small crack he had given himself and looked around his yard. There was … nothing? Perhaps they were all still by Zim’s house? Either way, they were in the clear for now. 

“Alright, to the garage! Hurry!’ Dib said in a whisper, running towards the garage. Zim followed and GIR closed the door quietly behind them. When Dib arrived at the garage, he quickly opened it as quietly as possible, revealing plenty of Membrane inventions and a covered up Tak’s ship. 

Dib scurried about the garage, looking for anything that could prove to be useful to them. Zim and GIR stood guard, making sure no infected came their way. As the coast was clear, Zim cocked is head back to get a better look at Tak’s ship. It was a shame that they couldn’t use it. Zim wanted more than anything to get away from this planet and it’s horrible monsters. 

“What are you looking for?” Zim asked quietly.   
“Anything. Weapons, medicine, etcetera.” Dib shuffled through some drawers in a workbench. “Blankets, water; you know-- the essentials” 

“Zim won’t be needing any of that junk.”  
“Okay, Zim-- I get it! You’re superior! But, I need these things to survive!’ 

Zim’s antennae twitched underneath his wig as he heard something in the distance. A growling noise was approaching from somewhere in the distance. GIR heard it too as he ran over to Dib, prying him away from his work. 

“I can hear them coming! Hurry up, Dib!”   
“I’m trying! Keep it away if it comes near!” 

Zim nodded, scanning the area for any rotting corpses. Soon, just as planned, it wandered into his line of sight. He waited for the beast to come in closer before striking with one of his robot legs. Straight through the skull, just as Dib and that book had taught him. He turned to Dib who smiled and gave him a nod in approval. Strangely, Zim accepted that approval. 

“Okay, I have just about everything we need.” he closed up his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder as he joined up with them. “Now we can head off to the school.” 

“What’s the plan once we’re there? Will it be our shelter?” 

Dib shook his head, motioning for Zim to walk and talk. “No. I think we should get out of the city as fast as possible. We can stay there for a night probably, but, we need to loot it and get everything that we can today.” Zim nodded in agreement and they went on their way. 

The neighborhood looked exactly as it should. Except that there was litter everywhere and vehicles were gone from driveways. In just a couple of days the neighborhood seemed completely deserted. Even stranger was that there were no zombies to be seen. Perhaps they were all congregated in the deepest part of the city. All the more reason to get out of there while they still could. 

The more Dib thought about the, the more he figued they shouldn’t stay the night at the school. There were way too many entry ways and who knows who or what could make their way in. Instead of explaining that to Zim, he’d tell him once they were there. For now, all that mattered was getting there alive and without getting bitten. The trio began their long hike to the school.

* * *

The trio hadn’t realized how much time had passed before they crossed familiar blocks into the territory around the school. Dib glanced up and noticed the sun rising up, almost reaching it’s peak in the sky. Without reliable electricity, all of his technology was dead-- including his phone-- and he had forgotten a watch, much to his dismay. It was too late to head back to his house now though, as the school was beginning to come into view. 

They stuck to the back alleys and side streets, avoiding the major roads. They didn’t want to run into any unnecessary people or infected if they could help it. Although, numerous times they had to tell GIR to keep quiet, seeing how the little robot still seemed to not understand the whole ordeal. There were instances where they would find people in the same circumstances as them, but rather than instigating conversation, they would hide and let them pass. As far as Dib was concerned, you could never be too careful in this kind of world. 

Dib remembered having locked himself in his room prior to Zim finding him, and listened intently to the radio and searched up news reports-- studying as much as he could. Right from the beginning he knew it had to be zombies. Everything was just making too much sense. He had heard on the radio that riots had taken place the night before Gaz and his father were killed. Seeing how they were so close to the inner city, Dib wanted them to be extremely cautious. Not only could fires be rampaging, but rioters could still be around, wanting to cause havoc. He wanted to play it safe, and he figured this would be the best place to start. Hospitals would be crawling with infected and other people trying to scrounge for supplies. A school was perfect! No one would ever expect it! 

They carefully turned the last block before their school was fully in view! Several barricades had been set up in front of the school’s main entryway, as well as some wooden planks lining the school’s front windows. Dib seemed discouraged at first, but, he knew there had to be another way in. He turned to Zim and GIR, motioning for them to follow quickly and quietly. They did so without hesitation, following him across the street and onto the school’s front yard. They were exposed now, and had to find a way in quick before they were noticed either by the living or the dead. 

They first tried the front doors where the barricades were. For living things with brains, making their way around the barricades was easy enough. For the dead with zero thinking skills, it could prove to be challenging. While Dib climbed over himself, Zim picked up GIR, using his robotic legs as an easier attempt at it. Dib took it upon himself to test the doors, but they wouldn’t budge. 

“Ugh-- they’re locked.” Dib said, grunting as he tried pushing and then pulling them.   
“Perhaps there’s other stink beasts in there?” Zim asked, raising a brow. “Or maybe zam-bees?” 

Now that Zim had mentioned it, the way the barricades were lined up, and how the school was completely closed off, it did seem like it could be keeping something inside. His heart began racing as he realized the loud noises he had made by trying to open the doors. In a panic, he looked around, trying to figure out if there was any way to see inside. He jumped from the main staircase leading up to the school and over to the front windows where he could see into their old classroom. There were breaks in the wooden planks, making it possible to see into the dimly lit classroom. Dib’s eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. 

“Zim, take a look at this!” he exclaimed. 

“Oooooh, I wanna see! I wanna see too!!” GIR ran over, squeaking as he did and attempted to jump up to see in. Zim shoved the robot aside, glancing in. 

Inside the teacher’s desk was aligned so it barely blocked the door to come in. Perhaps someone was walking around in the school and needed to get back inside? Even more intriguing was several big cardboard boxes placed against the wall. They were against the back of the classroom, meant to not be seen at first glance. On these boxes were big lettered words with marker; one reading **FOOD** , another reading **CLOTHES** , and so on and so forth. Of these boxes, the one that caught Zim’s attention the most was the one that said **AMMUNITION**.

He turned back to Dib, a big smirk crossing his face. “We need to get in there! We could take all this stuff!” 

“My thoughts exactly. I’m just worried about who barricaded the windows.” Dib glanced from the windows they stood in front of, to the other set on the other side of the school building. “Someone either wants to keep something inside, or keep something out.” 

Zim nodded, realizing the severity. “So, we bust in, grab the stuff, and get out as fast as possible!” 

“How are we going to get in? Everything’s boarded up-- and the doors are locked!” 

Zim glanced at him, narrowing his eyes. “I thought you said you read that book Dib! It talks all about stuff like this! You need to think strategically!” 

Dib gave a ‘psssh’ as he rolled his eyes. “Since when have you ever thought strategically?” 

“ZIM DOES ALL THE TIME!”   
“Alright, alright, lower your voice! We’re not as safe as we were in the suburbs.”   
“We weren’t even safe there, Dib-stink!” 

As the two argued, they failed to realize that GIR was already two steps ahead of them. The robot revealed his metallic head, opening up the top. He reached inside the thermos part of his body, revealing a brick he had kept in handy. Winding up a throw, he launched the heavy brick straight at the window, smashing through the boarded up wood and glass. The incredibly powerful throw caught both his master and friend off guard as they looked over with shocked expressions. GIR simply sat there with a smile on his face as he pulled his hood back over. 

“You … when …?” Dib stared confused at what just happened. “ … Where did you get a _brick_ from …?” 

“I like collectin’ things~ My head can hold lotsa stuff~”   
“I was wondering why you were so heavy!” Zim ran past, papping GIR on the head. “Good job, GIR! Let’s go in!” 

GIR followed suit and Dib watched, still baffled by how GIR could carry such a good sized brick in his head. Nonetheless, he followed, cautioning them about broken glass and whatever was inside. Zim pushed away broken pieces of glass and the snapped wood bits before climbing in the room first. Nothing out of the ordinary-- just a big empty room. 

GIR was still outside, attempting to jump in through the window. Dib grabbed hold of him and peered inside. Zim glanced back out at him, and spotted his need for help. He shot out a robot leg from his PAK, sending it outside, prompting for Dib to grab hold and let himself in. Once inside, the boys glanced around at the empty room-- save for a few desks and the obvious boxes they needed. 

“Alright, lets see what there is and get out before anybody--or anything-- comes along.” Dib ran over to the boxes, dropping to his knees as he lifted the flaps to search. Zim and GIR joined beside him and searched through the other boxes too. As they were sorting through the boxes, Dib noticed a fit of evil giggles come from Zim. 

He lifted up what seemed to be a pistol from the box he was sorting through. Dib’s eyes widened as a big smile crept across his own face. He scooted closer to Zim and GIR walked over as well, oooing in excitement. 

“This is a human weapon no?” Zim asked, glancing at Dib. “Perfect! We’ll need it! Zim already comes with a lot of weaponry on him, so you can take this one!” he through it into Dib’s lap, hearing a groan escape him. He hadn’t realized how heavy it truly was. 

Dib picked up the gun in his hands, feeling strangely empowered to be holding a weapon like this. Although empowered, it made his heart race. He didn’t like handling this, but, times were changing. He simply would have to get used to it. 

Underneath his wig, Zim’s antennae began twitching. He stood up and turned towards the door. Dib looked up at him and followed his gaze towards the door. Did he hear someone? Zim quickly turned to face Dib with a worried expression. 

“Someone’s coming!” he grabbed Dib and GIR’s arms, forcing them along. They ran towards the door, ducking behind the teachers desk as that seemed to be the only source of protection in the room. Zim prepared his spider legs, and Dib grasped his baseball bat, ready to attack any dead that wandered in. 

They waited for what seemed like agonizingly long minutes, until they began to hear … voices? Human voices? While they were relieved it wasn’t any zombies, they still couldn’t afford to let their guards down. Dib could feel GIR shaking beside him, and he watched a bead of sweat drip down Zim’s neck. This was the most tense he had ever seen them. Finally, the door swung open as several people walked in. 

“This is where I heard the noise!” a girl’s voice shouted. 

“Someone was getting into our supplies!” another girl added. Her voice sounded muffled-- perhaps by braces? 

“Perhaps they’re nice? I’d like to think they’re nice~” another voice added. This one sounded as young as the girls did, but appeared more masculine at the very least. 

Zim immediately recognized all of these voices, as did Dib. They looked at one another, and just as Dib was ready to take a look at who the people were, he felt someone grab him by his tuft of hair, yanking him from his hiding place. 

In a flurry of panic, Zim erupted from his hiding place, picking up the baseball bat Dib had dropped. GIR took a fighting pose, ready to attack as well. Dib looked in awe as he noticed three of his former classmates. One of them had Dib pinned. But, just as soon as they recognized each other, he saw the girl atop Dib eyes widen. 

“Dib??” she asked in confusion.   
Dib, who was recoiling in fear, opened his eyes and saw a purple haired girl who had been in their class prior to the current events. His expression was exactly the same as hers. “Zita??” 

Zim lowered the bat and stared in awe as Zita backed off, letting Dib stand back up. Behind her stood two other students they knew too well. Gretchen, who was glancing back and forth between the two newcomers, and Keef who already had his sights set on Zim. 

“You’re all alive??” Zim asked in utter confusion. As if expecting it, it felt like he was hit by a sudden freight train as Keef slammed into him, hugging him tightly. 

“Aw, Zim! You’re also alive!” he exclaimed, nuzzling against the Irken. Zim took the initiative and shoved him away. Nonetheless, Keef’s cheery demeanor stayed. “I thought us three were the only ones who made it!” 

GIR ran over to Keef, booping his leg. The cheery redhead immediately turned to the robot, grabbing his paws. “GIR! I didn’t think you’d be here either!” 

Dib glanced at Zita and Gretchen who looked relieved to see Zim and Dib now. “Wait, there’s only three of you here?” 

“Well, there were more but … after the riots passed, a lot of them left. Most of us here were kids and their parents. Once they saw an opportunity, they took it and left.” Zita explained. 

“Ms. Bitters is somewhere around here.” Gretchen explained, her words slurred through her braces. “There was a noise last night and she went to investigate. It came from the gymnasium, but we’re not supposed to go over there …” 

“So, Ms. Bitters disappeared?” Dib asked, closing his eyes and humming. What should they do? Thoughts and ideas kept running through his head. He knew it wasn’t safe to stay in the city, but, the school seemed well fortified-- well, aside from the gaping hole in the wind they made. And since they already knew everyone here, the could convince them to give them a share of their supplies? Perhaps staying with them wouldn’t be such a bad idea for the time being. “Got room for two more? We could help find her.” 

Zim glanced over at Dib, obviously worried and a little dumfounded by his question. He pulled him aside, whispering to him. 

“Didn’t you say we should get out of the city??” he asked in a loud whisper. “You said it was dangerous to stay here any longer than needed!” 

“It is! But, we need all the help we can get. If we can get them to join us, then, we have a better shot at surviving.” 

Zim glanced back at the three behind them. Zita and Gretchen watched on as Keef and GIR played, dancing about and having a grand ol’ time. 

“... You seriously think they’ll HELP us survive?” Zim asked, quite concerned at this point. 

“We can see how their skills are. And if worse comes to worse, we’ll bail and take some supplies with us. I’m sure they’ll give us a good amount.” 

“Zim doesn’t like this plan … but, you’re the zam-bee expert.” he looked back at them for a moment, then back at Dib. “Fine. But, if things go bad, Zim doesn’t want to hear it.” 

Having come to an agreement, Dib and Zim turned back to everyone. “So, as I was saying, think we could stay for a bit? It’s getting dangerous out there, but, we should loot the city before it’s completely overtaken.” 

“Before Ms. Bitters disappeared, she was about to send us out to go searching for things. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind some more able bodies.” Zita explained. 

“I still find it a bit strange she wanted kids to go and search for supplies … she must have a lot of faith in us …” Gretchen added on. 

“Or she wants us dead. Now that it’s the apocalypse, why not?” Zita retorted. Either way, she walked over to the boxes, placing everything back inside. “Were you trying to steal our supplies?” 

Dib placed hi hands on his hips. “Hey, we had no idea this stuff was claimed! We thought the building was empty!” 

“You oughta do a better job at hiding you things, worm-babies.” Zim added on to the insults. “We found it easily. You should move it somewhere safer. 

“Well, if that’s the case, if you wanna stay,” Zita bent forward, picking up a box and thrusting it into Zim’s arms. The Irken glanced at her with annoyed eyes. “Then you’re helping us move everything. We have a sleeping area set up in the nurse’s office. There’s plenty of first aid and beds there.” 

Agreeing to help for the time being, Zim and Dib were welcomed into whatever little society Zita and the others had begun at the school. While they weren’t too keen on being around Keef more than they had to be, it was definitely reassuring to see some familiar faces. If they could influence them to leave the school at a later point in time, that’d be even better for them! It didn’t seem like the zombies were completely taking over the city yet, so there was still some hope. 

However, a sense of dread lurked in the back of Dib’s mind. Where was Ms. Bitters? What would they do about the gaping hole in the window they created? And how long before the government came into the city in an attempt to exterminate the dead? Chills ran down his spine at the thought of bombs or napalm being dropped in the streets while they were still here. All the more reason to gain the other’s trust and get out of there while they still could.


	4. Fodder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During the scene where they're looking out into the city going dark, I've been listening to this for inspiration.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZHbS4ggU0s
> 
> In case it hasn't clicked, I'm going to be basing this story off of TWD/FTWD and The Last of Us. Mostly using some scenes n things for inspiration n such!   
> Of all these, if you haven't checked out The Last of Us, I'd totally recommend it! I personally love it a lot more than TWD series!   
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

“So when did you all come here?”   
“It was before the riots started … a couple days after school closed.”   
“There was a rumor going around that it was opening up as a safe house.”   
“Yeah, but a lot of people left between then and now. I sure hope they’re alright …” 

Zita led the way to the nurse’s office. The halls were dark, and the lights still flickered from the ceiling. Dib was sure the power would go out any day now. He hoped that they had prepared candles and flashlights, otherwise it would be a long, dark night. Many doors were closed, and the school seemed free of all infected, much to his and Zim’s surprise. As they turned the corner to head down the wing where the gymnasium was, he could sense how unnerved everyone was. 

“So,” Dib stopped and glanced down the gym wing, seeing the doors to the big room. “How come no one is allowed down by the gym? You’d think that there would be good weapons down that way.” 

Gretchen turned back to Dib and shrugged. “Ms. Bitters said something like there were infected in there. A lot of infected. She said she and the other adults barricaded the doors to keep them from entering.” 

Dib groaned in annoyance. He had remembered taking archery during one of their gym classes. He was beginning to wonder if, despite the infected in there, if it’d be worth it to grab those bows-- as well as whatever else they could find. He noticed the others walking away and ran to catch up with them. Now was definitely not the time to be getting seperated. A few halls away was the nurse’s office. When instructed, GIR opened the door, letting everyone in. 

Everyone poured in, setting the boxes down near the door. Later on, they would get around to sorting through the boxes, but for now, it was time to show Dib and Zim around. Zita turned towards her classmates and gave them a smile. 

“I really can’t believe you two are alive …” Zita said quietly. “I mean, I knew Dib was crazy and knew all about zombies and other things like that, but, I never would have imagined you’d get past the first days.” 

“Uh, thanks Zita-- I guess?” Was that a compliment, or was she making fun of him? He couldn’t be sure. “It’s great to see all of you too-- these past few days have been pretty hectic.” 

Zim was the first to notice that there were no human adults in the nurse’s office. While he was relieved there weren’t any more potential threats or humans, why would human children be here without their parents? Zim stepped forward, glancing between their three classmates. 

“Where are the others? You said a lot left, but, where are the other human adults?” Zim asked, raising a brow. “Surely it’s not just you three and Ms. Bitters?” 

At the mention of their parents, all three showed expressions of sadness and worry. It didn’t take long for Zim to realize that perhaps they had met the same fate as Dib’s family. It seemed like the only plausible explanation. 

“My parents and I made it to the school by car, but, there was a bunch of them outside and … my parents couldn’t get away …” Gretchen said, sniffling a bit as she did. 

“When Ms. Bitters went off to investigate, my father went with her.” Zita rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a lump in her throat. “My mom … didn’t make it out of the house …” 

“I lost mine on my way here,” Keef explained, looking down. He then looked back up, giving Zim and Dib a half smile. A hopeful smile. “But, I’d like to think they’re still alive out there …” 

Zim regretted even bringing it up at that point. Yes, he was curious about the adult’s whereabouts, but, he didn’t want to hear all three of them ramble on. To him, it meant nothing. He just wanted to survive. He looked to Dib who seemed shaken up himself. He began speaking in an even shakier manner. 

“ … My dad and sister died within the first couple of days …” Dib tucked his hands into his pants pockets and turned his head away. “Zim found me in my room and … help me take care of them.” 

Zita walked over, placing her hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. “Dib … I’m so sorry … and I’m even sorrier for how mean I’ve been to you lately.”

Gretchen walked over, nodding as she folded her hands together. “Y-yeah … you’re among friends now, Dib …” A faint blush crossed her cheeks. It seemed even in the past year, she hadn’t gotten over her crush on the boy. 

“And Zim’s welcome as well~” Keef was about to offer the Irken another hug, but Zim raised an arm up, rejecting his offer. 

Dib gave them all a smile, glancing around all the familiar faces he knew so well. “Thanks everyone … we’ll take you up on that, but, I don’t think it’s safe to stay very long.” his grateful look turned to one of worry. 

“What do you mean?” Gretchen asked, cocking her head. “We’re safe here!” 

Zim stepped in at this point, standing in the center of everyone. “It couldn’t be any less safe! Despite Dib’s crazy antics, he does surprisingly have knowledge on the events unfolding!” he paced around, explaining what he had learned in great detail. 

“Before leaving the stink-creature’s house, he gave me a textbook of sorts. This book explains of the events that will unfold before, during, and after everything starts.” he wanted to instill fear in the school children, hoping they’d realize the severity of the situation. “The zam-bees will continue to grow in numbers until they completely take over the city. Eventually the government humans will come and deploy bombs and fire-exploding jelly in the streets.” 

He turned and could see the horrified look amongst everyone. Dib was giving him a look of ‘really?’. Nonetheless, he continued. If anything, he needed them to be on his side during this. He got up close to Zita, bringing his hand close to her face, pointing a clawed finger at her. 

“And that will only be the start of it! The government humans will begin going through the blown up streets, checking for survivors-- only you _won’t_ be surviving. The book explained that all government personnel are expected to obliterate anybody they find-- out of fear that they are infected!” 

Everyone was visibly shaken up. All three had no words, nor did they know what to say. Zim continued to prod at them, explaining things further. 

“The school will only be safe for so long. Dib and I will be leaving as soon as possible, and for you all to survive as well, it’s expected you do the same.” 

Dib approached him, placing a hand on Zim’s shoulder. “That’s enough! They get it, Zim! Stop scaring them!” 

“They need to know the importance! I don’t want to be blown to smithereens, Dib!” 

“But,” Zita started. Everyone looked back at her, “there’s only so much we can do … we’re kids, Zim. What can kids do? And, we gotta find Ms. Bitters! She’s still around here somewhere!” 

“I-I’m with Zita! We can’t leave! Not yet!” Gretchen exclaimed, balling her fists. 

Keef nodded. “I respect you Zim, and I know you mean well, but … this seems like the safest thing to do … you can’t always trust a book …” 

Zim narrowed his eyes, baring his teeth at the ignorant humans before him. Why would they even consider him to be lying or poking fun at the situation. He shoved Dib away and went off to be alone. 

“Come on, Zim!” Zita exclaimed at him. “You’re probably just tired! I bet you’re both really tired! How about we get you some food and find you guys somewhere to sleep!” 

“Thanks …” Dib said quietly. He had to admit that Zim had a point. While he didn’t have to go about explaining so hastily. With the riots having died down, and all of the others evacuating the city, it was only a matter of time before the government really did show up. They needed to hurry. They couldn’t be bothered with spending so much time there. 

They were each given a sleeping bag, courtesy of the supplies’ box. While Dib was offered some canned food, Zim rejected, wanting nothing to do with their food. Dib could tell he wanted to leave, and he did too-- but, something was concerning him. Where was Ms. Bitters? Could they actually get into the gymnasium? Had the entire school been checked over? A he ate, he came up with a plan in his head. After the others went to bed that night, he’d talk to Zim and figure something out.

* * *

Night time came on very slowly and it took even longer for the others to fall asleep. GIR had curled up close to Keef, while Zim lay awake, reading more of the book Dib had given him. Dib, only the other hand, had been faking his sleep, waiting for the others to finally doze off. When it finally seemed like they were all asleep, he got up from his sleeping bag, and put on his glasses. He clutched a nearby flashlight Gretchen had given him and flashed it in Zim’s direction. The Irken flinched at the sudden light. 

“What?” he asked, mildly annoyed. Dib crawled over from his side of the room to where Zim was. The Irken only became more confused. 

Once he was in Zim’s light, he turned off the flashlight. “I have an idea, but, I’m going to need your help. I didn’t want to get the others involved.” 

Zim raised a brow. “Ooookaaaay? What is this idea of yours?” 

“I need to find out what they have in that gymnasium. With your PAK and weaponry at your disposal, if there’s any zombies in there, I’m sure we can take them out!” 

“The humans said it’s infested! How are we going to be able to handle it ourselves?” 

“I can snatch one of the guns from the box over there. It’ll be loud, but, if we can clear out the gym and find Ms. Bitters, then they’ll have to agree to come with us!” 

Zim sighed, setting the book aside. “That is the stupidest, most moronic idea I’ve ever heard, Dib-filth.” he went quiet, then looked over at Dib with a smirk. “Let’s do it.” 

Dib was glad he had Zim on his side. Even if his idea was plain suicidal, he was positive they could do this. Quietly, he walked over to the boxes they left by the door, careful not to wake anybody up. Zim joined him at his side, helping him sort through the box as quickly as they could. He looked over at Zim with a serious expression. 

“Don’t wake GIR up.” he glanced back, noticing the robot entangled in Keef’s arm. “He’ll just cause more problems. I’m positive you and I can do this alone.” 

“Agreed.” 

Once they had dug out the pistol they had found earlier, Dib took a moment to get acquainted with it. He opened the barrel, revealing how many rounds the gun actually had. To his surprise, it was completely full. 

“Fifteen rounds,” he closed the barrel back up. “I’ll get as many as I can, but we may have to rely on those spider legs of yours to finish off most of them … depending on how infested the gym really is.” 

Zim nodded, and the two headed for the door, hoping to open it quietly and without waking anyone up. The door, surprisingly opened with little noise, and once Zim and Dib were both outside, Dib closed it gently. The only thing that was heard was a little click, signifying that the door had closed. He peered inside and still saw everyone asleep. With the two of them in the clear, they headed off into the hallways and towards the gymnasium. 

In the darkness, all of the hallways looked the same, but for Dib who had gone to this school his entire life, he knew the dark maze like the back of his hand. He held a flashlight in front of him, careful not to let the light get too close to the windows. They’d be in for it if a zombie from the outside spotted them. From where the nurse’s office was, the gymnasium wasn’t too far away. 

As they walked, both were keeping an eye on not only what was in front of them, but the windows, lockers, and behind them as well. They couldn’t be too careful in a situation such as this. Dib had noticed that the lights had stopped flickering above them, Perhaps the city was losing power finally. He turned his attention back to the hallway they were walking down, when they passed by a familiar looking area. His eyes darted to two lockers-- they happened to be his and Gaz’ old lockers. He let out an audible sigh and Zim looked over at him. 

“What’s wrong?” Zim asked. “Are you feeling well?”   
“I just miss my family …” Dib said quietly. “And, I started thinking about my mother as well …” 

Zim cocked his head at Dib. “ _Mother_? I thought you only had a father unit?” 

“My mom died when Gaz and I were really little. My dad doesn’t like to talk about her much. Or … at least, he didn’t like to talk about her." 

Zim turned away and went quiet. He should’ve known that Dib had a mother at one point. How else would he have gotten here? While he was staying on Earth, he had learned a lot about human reproduction-- more than he cared to learn about. He had learned that unlike Irken children, human children must have ‘parents’. He glanced back over at Dib. 

“Well, at least you HAD a family.” Dib looked over at him. “Zim doesn’t have a family. Irken children are hatched from tubes, and our PAK gives us our identity. It gives us our personality.” 

Dib, who had never really taken a second notice at Zim was becoming all the more interested as they started working together during this situation. He had never thought there was more complexity to him than what he saw. For as long as he knew Zim, he only thought of the Irken as an enemy-- his nemesis, but now? He was nothing more than intrigued. They were working together now, he might as well try to learn more about him. 

“Hatched? Irkens don’t reproduce?” Dib raised a brow, genuinely curious. 

“That IS our reproduction method. Once an Irken dies, their PAK is removed, and given to the next Irken child ready to hatch.” 

“So, what you're saying is that there was another Zim before you??” At this point, Dib was confused. Was it like reincarnation? Irkens were indeed strange beings. 

“There is only ONE Zim!” he exclaimed. “I am the one and ONLY Zim!” 

“Alright, alright, calm down.” Dib said, motioning him with his hands to quiet down. “It was just a question-- no need to get so bent out of shape.” 

“Sucks that Irkens don’t have a family though …” Dib added on. “What do you do until you’re grown enough?”

“Silly human, even as Smeets, Irkens are already prepared for battle! I was wielding weapons as just two days old!” Zim exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest proudly. 

“Pfft, that’s dangerous.” Dib said, mockingly. Zim only looked at him angrily. 

“Besides, an Irken’s life is devoted to invading and conquering. We have no time for family or friends or,” Zim shivered at the thought of the word. He spoke in a rather disgusted tone.“ _Mates_.” 

“Well, if you want to blend in on Earth, having a family, friends, and eventually a mate is the one way you’ll fit in.” Dib explained. “Not that it’ll matter much anymore with zombies roaming around--” He cut himself short when the gymnasium hallway was fast approaching. He turned to Zim placing his finger against his own lips, shushing him. 

“We’re almost there … we need to move quietly now …” Zim nodded in agreement, preparing the spider legs as they emerged slowly from his PAK. 

Dib slowly moved towards the gymnasium doors, one hand on the pistol in his belt loop, the other guiding the flashlight in front of them. The barricades in front of the doors compromised of teachers desk and student’s desks. 

“We need to try and move these as quietly as possible, then we can figure out how to get the doors open.” Dib explained in a whisper. Zim was already on it, utilizing his spider legs in such a way that he could lift the desks up, without too much noise. Dib watched in awe as he moved such heavy objects with ease. 

“That’s amazing, Zim!”   
“Tell me something I don’t know~” Zim replied, with a snarky attitude. 

Dib only rolled his eyes as he watched Zim move the last desk. He rushed towards the door and peered in through the glass at the top. From where they stood, the gymnasium looked pitch black. There was nothing at the door, neither on the floor or around the entryway. 

“Alright, it looks like it’s all clear on the other side. Open them up quietly and quickly.” Dib instructed, pushing on the door to open it. It swung open with a creaking noise, which only made Zim and Dib both flinch horribly. Zim got the other one, flinching even harder as this one creaked even louder. Once they were open, they waited a moment. 

Nothing. No sounds, no groans-- nothing. Dib sighed heavily, glad that nothing was coming. He took the gun from his belt loop and passed off the flashlight to Zim. Since Zim was holding no weapon, he could hold the flashlight with ease. 

“Flash it towards the bleachers.” Zim nodded and did as instructed, letting the light flash on the bleachers. They were still down from the school’s last assembly. The boys remembered it vividly as they were talking about the flu and how it was spreading. Neither of them would’ve thought it would become something as horrible as this. 

“There’s nothing there.” Zim explained. “Zim thinks maybe this was a rumor to scare the humans into thinking things were unsafe.” 

“That’s what it seems like. I just hope the back room is unlocked so we can find the bows and bats.” Dib hurried his pace through the empty gymnasium, making Zim do the same. The gym was empty, or so it seemed. This was the perfect opportunity to get into the room and find what the needed. That way, they could bring everything back to their friends in the nurse’s office and convince them to join us. 

The two rushed to the back of the gym where they found the room where all of the sports equipment was being held. They looked at one another and nodded simultaneously, alerting each other that they were ready for whatever lay beyond that door. Dib sighed a shaky breath as he held his hand on the doorknob. 

“One … two …” he twisted the knob, thrusting the door open and immediately jumping away and aiming his gun. “THREE!” 

Zim prepared the robotic legs, but, there was nothing on the other side of the door. How bizarre. It was truly beginning to seem like a false rumor at this point. But, despite that, neither boy let their guard down. Zim flashed the light into the dark room, trying to locate things they could use. However, much to their dismay, all they were finding were kickballs, soccer balls, and other useless sports equipment among nets and bins. 

“Are you kidding me …” Dib said aggravated. “We came out here for nothing!”   
“At least the gymnasium wasn’t full of zam-bees like we thought.”   
“I guess, but, man …” Dib groaned, kicking a stray kickball away. “This sucks.” 

The kickball rolled into a tennis pole that had been laying uneven against the wall, causing it topple over and create a domino effect. Everything before them fell over in a loud crash. Dib and Zim stared in complete shock, waiting in silence for a few moment. For a few seconds, they heard nothing, and then Dib’s ear twitched as he heard the familiar groan of a zombie. It was coming from out in the gymnasium. Slowly, one after another groan, until it sounded like a horde! 

“Oh no …” Dib grabbed hold of Zim’s arm, running out of the room with him into the open gym. Zim flashed the light around, attempting to find the infected around them. He caught glimpses of them coming from all over. 

“Where did they all come from!?” Dib cried, running straight for the door. Zim was finally able to find the source of the zombie flow and shook the light in that direction. 

“There!” Dib’s eyes followed the light to an exit door to the outside of the school. That door let out to the back of the school-- the fenced in area where recess usually took place. “That’s where the zam-bees are getting in!” 

“They were keeping them out back!” Dib finally realized. In their realization, they failed to see that the zombies were gaining on them. Zim yanked away from Dib, thrusting one of the spider legs through the skulls of multiple zombies, and then chasing after Dib. 

They got the door and slammed it shut, hoping to keep the zombies at bay. They all began to pile up against the door, leaving the duo shaking horribly. 

“What do we do?” Zim asked, glancing over at Dib.   
“We need to get GIR and the others and get out of--” 

Dib was ultimately cut off, as the zombies broke through the door! The first of many collapsed on top of Zim, prying at the Irken’s face! 

“ZIM!” Dib cried, unable to do much of anything. Luckily, the Irken had many tricks up his sleeve, and the robotic legs once again came through, saving him yet again. The Irken hopped up, his wig and contacts coming loose from the scuffle. 

“Zim, your disguise!” Dib blurted out. Zim’s antennae perked up as he felt the top of his head and looked to the ground seeing the tattered pieces of his disguise. 

“OH NO!” he cried, attempting reach them, but Dib had already grabbed him.   
“Forget the disguise! We need to get away from here!” 

Zim desperately wanted to retrieve the elements of his disguise, but, the situation was too dire. He nodded, pulling away from Dib as the two ran down the hallway, much faster than the zombies. They needed to get back and tell everyone as fast as possible.

* * *

“I can’t believe they’d get up and leave! Especially without Zim’s dumb dog!” Zita exclaimed, shining a flashlight down the hall. 

GIR was in hysterics. He couldn’t believe his master would leave him behind. Keef grabbed GIR’s paw and gave him a smile. 

“Aw, don’t worry, GIR~ I’m sure Zim and Dib just had to use the bathroom or something!” GIR rubbed away tears and nodded. That had to be it. 

“Wait, everyone be quiet …” Zita said in a loud whisper. “Do you hear that??” 

The other two went quiet, and as far as the others could hear, only GIR’s sniffles echoed in the hallway. Keef glanced around, trying to figure out what she meant, and Gretchen stood there shaking, scared out of her wits. 

“I-I don’t hear anything …” Gretchen said quietly. “Are you sure you heard--” 

Suddenly, the noises Zita had heard were heard by everyone in the group. The sound of frantic footsteps rushing down the hallway-- and they were headed straight for them! Out of the darkness came a terrified Zim and Dib, running right at them.

“Dib! Zim!” Zita exclaimed. “Where did you two go!? We were worried sick!” 

“Oh, hey Zim! I like your cool antennae! Is it some sort of hat?” Keef asked, happily oblivious. 

Zita recoiled a bit at the features Zim now bore. “Wait … _antennae_? Zim … you’re really an _alien_??” 

Zim and Dib ran past all of them, barely even able to hear their conversation. Zim quickly grabbed GIR from Keef’s clutches, continuing their running. Zim screamed back at them. 

“That’s the _least_ of your worries, STINK-BRAINS! Back to the nurse’s office! The zam-bees are coming!’" he exclaimed. 

“What??” All of them yelled back. Zita flashed a light back at the darkness and saw a horde of zombies following in hot pursuit of them all. Letting out a fearsome yelp, they all began running back towards their safe spot. 

Dib, Zim, and GIR were the first to make it back to the nurse’s office, slamming the door behind them. Both Zim and Dib tried desperately to catch their breaths and contain their noisy breathing as they could hear the hordes closing in. But, where was Zita and the others? They should’ve been right behind them. Out of fear of being spotted, Zim locked the door and crouched down, turning off the flashlight. 

Dib crouched beside him, not even patronizing him for locking the door. They had enough time to get away, and there were plenty of classrooms with lockable doors. He was sure they were fine. The zombies came closer and closer to the classroom, both could hear their horrible groans and moans. 

Dib thought his chest would explode as his heart continuously thudded harder and harder. This was definitely the most scared he had ever felt in his life. He tucked his knees to his stomach and buried his face into his knees, covering his ears to drown out the horrible noises. Zim only tried to calm GIR down as the robot made horrified whimpers. 

After several agonizing minutes, it seemed as if the horde had passed. There was no more groaning outside in the hallways, and all had been quiet for several minutes. Afraid to stand up and attract attention to themselves, Dib crouched low to the ground and made his way over to the boxes of supplies. 

“What are you doing?” Zim whispered.   
“We need to get everyone and get out of here. Let’s take what we can carry and find everyone!” 

Zim nodded and crouched low to the ground, just as Dib had done. The three searched through the boxes, finding what supplies mattered most. Dib tucked a blanket away into his backpack, as well as several canned foods. Zim took whatever weapons he could find and stashed them into his PAK. GIR searched through a box and ended up finding a white case with a red cross on it. 

“Hey, what’s this thingy??” the robot called out. Dib took it from GIR’s paw and studied it, swiftly opening it up to see its contents. 

Inside the case were several boxes of bandaids and bandages, along with burn cream and all kinds of ointments, tweezers, and several other helpful items. Dib began nervously chuckling as he hugged the first-aid kit close to his chest. 

“Oh, thank God!” he cried. “This is going to be our saving grace!”   
“Eh???” Zim stared at it before Dib tucked it away into his backpack. 

“I have all I can carry. We need to head out and find the others. If we spot the horde, we go the opposite way.” Dib explained, throwing his backpack over his shoulders. 

“And if we see a singular zam-bee, we take it out.” Zim added on. Dib nodded, glad that the Irken was catching on as quick as he was. They both looked to GIR who gave them both a salute. They were ready to head back out into the dark hallways.

Zim opened the door, expecting to see a few zombies, but surprisingly, the halls were empty. Dib and GIR poured out immediately afterwards as the three rushed down the empty hallways, attempting to find the other survivors. 

“Keep an eye out for Ms. Bitters as well!” Dib said quietly. “And, if we don’t find anybody after ten minutes, we assume they’re dead and leave!” 

Zim flinched at the words Dib said, but ultimately agreed. There was no point in staying around if they were gone. Zim nodded and they continued on their hunt. 

As they continued down numerous hallways, trying to find the classroom they had entered in the first place, they had come across plenty of stragglers, managing to attack them before being noticed.This continued on for a while longer before they heard screaming coming from a nearby hallway. 

“That sounded like Gretchen!” Dib exclaimed, running ahead of Zim and towards the screaming girl. 

“Dib, wait! We can’t split off like this!” Zim cried out. He caught up to the human who had turned the corner and stood utterly shocked. Before him was a cornered Gretchen, crying out for help. He urged Zim to hurry with him to her aid, but before they could even come close, Gretchen was taken down by many zombies. 

“NO!” Dib cried, still standing quite a ways away. Zim stopped beside him and watched the horrible scene unfold. Up until now, he hadn’t actually seen what the zombies were capable of. But, now, seeing it happen in front of him made his stomach churn. They both felt as if they were going to be sick. 

GIR’s robotic voice turned to that of duty mode as he took a fighting stance. “She needs help!’ 

“It’s too late GIR …” Zim said in a defeated voice. “She’s gone …”   
“Gretchen …” Dib said in a strained voice. If only they had gotten there on time, he thought. 

Zim placed a hand on Dib’s shoulder and urged him to back away. After a few moments of standing in utter shock, Dib finally began moving and backpedaled with Zim, returning to one of the previous hallways. 

Still shaken up from the the previous events, the two agreed it was time to find the classroom and escape. After a while of searching, they were able to find the precise classroom, but something wasn’t adding up. They had closed the door when they went to the nurse’s office before, but now it was wide open. Groaning and whimpering could be heard coming from inside. Dib grabbed hold of the gun he held and Zim prepared his PAK legs, while he held onto GIR. 

They walked into the dark classrom, the only light being provided to them was shining through the hole they had made earlier. In front of the window was a black shadow hunched over. Awful noises were coming from the front of it. Dib and Zim apporached it carefully, sure it was a zombie. However, the tall figure looked familiar to the two. Zim finally realized who the shadow was. 

“Miss … Bitters …?” Zim asked cautiously. The shadow didn’t stop it’s business for another moment, before it turned to them, revealing the wrinkly face of Ms. Bitters. He face was torn apart and her chest was torn open, guts falling out everywhere. 

Zim and Dib both let loose audible gasps as their old teacher stood up and began lurching towards her students. She had turned in the span of time she went missing! Zim, feeling slightly unsettled by the situation, shot a leg straight at her, striking her through the skull. Their old teacher fell with a thud. The truth about he had finally been revealed. She had to have been bitten. Dib looked past the shadow and found one of their friends beyond Ms. Bitter’s corpse. 

“Oh god …” Dib said quietly, moving towards the new slump. In the moonlight, blood glistened on the slump’s body. Intestines and organs fell onto the ground as whimpers and cries escaped the victim. Light revealed it to be Zita-- and Ms. Bitters had gotten to her first. 

“Zita?!” Dib crouched beside the girl, as she glanced over at him, trying to talk. It was a wonder she was even still alive. 

All that came from the girl was gurgles and other grotesque noises as blood gathered in her mouth. She tried reaching up to Dib, only clenching his shirt, blooding up the sweater he wore. He hand fell, but her shaking eyes still stayed on Dib. 

Shakily, Dib reached for his pistol. Zim watched the whole scene unfold before him, eyes widening as he watched Dib grab his weapon. 

“Dib …?” Zim asked quietly. “What’re you …?” 

Dib pointed the barrel of the gun at Zita’s head as the girl watched on in horror. Deep inside her however, through the pain of being gutted, this is what she wanted. She wanted to be put out of her misery, and Dib knew this. This was the only humane way to put her out of her misery. So, why was his hand shaking so violently. 

“She’s still alive, Dib!” Zim cried, utterly confused. Why was he going to shoot her? She wasn’t dead-- yet! 

Through the violent spasms in his hand, Dib finally pulled the trigger, watching Zita’s body fall limp as he finally put her out of her misery. The shaking didn’t stop there as the gun fell out of Dib’s hand and he watched on in horror. Shaky breaths and whimpers escaped his mouth as he brought his hands to the side of his head. 

“O-oh god-- I _shot_ her!” he said, shakily. Tears began welling up in his yes. “Oh _fuck_ , Zim, I shot her!!” 

“I don’t understand why you did!” Zim retorted, just as scared as Dib was. “She was still alive! How come you did that!?” 

“Sh-she was bitten … torn open by Ms. Bitters …” he spoke through shaky breaths. “I needed to put her out of her misery …” Tears began falling as he realized what he actually just did. “Oh my god, Zim … this isn’t happening …” 

GIR interrupted the two in a flurry of panic as he began hearing moans and groans coming from outside in the darkened hallways. Zim snapped back into reality when GIR got his attention. He stood up and immediately went to the window. 

“Dib, we gotta go! The Zam-bees are coming!” he cried out. Dib didn’t move, still too shaken up from what he had to do. 

“DIB! PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!” Zim screamed. Finally, Dib was able to come back to his senses. The zombies were entering the room by now, and Dib managed to climb out the window just in time. 

Leaving the carnage in the school behind them, the two ran as far and as fast as they could into the night. Once again, Dib explained that they needed to get out of the city. Zim couldn’t agree any more, and they made their way for the forested area on the outskirts of town.

* * *

As they ran, they encountered a few zombies, but not as many as the school held. They would take care of them and keep running, and they never looked back. They all kept quiet for as long as they ran, and once they were at the edge of the forest, that was when they felt they could finally take a breather. 

They found themselves atop a hill. Zim fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. He had never ran that far in his life. He looked to Dib, who had his hand on his chest, trying to regain himself as well. After several minutes, their breathing began to return to normal. Dib looked back at Zim, still taking deep breaths. 

“I still can’t believe I did that …” Dib said quietly. “But … I had to …” 

Zim got to his feet and approached him. “She’s at peace now … probably …” 

“I really hope so … “ Dib brought his palm to his face, burying his face in it. “God, poor Zita and Gretchen. I wonder if Keef made it out alright …” 

Zim narrowed his eyes. “Honestly, I could care less if he did or not.”   
“I mean, same, but … I’m still worried …” 

They both went quiet, wondering what to do at this point. Dib kept telling Zim that they had to get out of the city, but then what? That was when Dib glanced over at the city the had just come from. His eyes widened and his mouth feel agape as he watched in awe. 

“Oh no … Zim, GIR, look …” 

Zim glanced over and his eyes widened all the same at what he was watching. One by one, the lights in the city began blinking out. It began from the outskirts and moved inward. From the tallest skyscrapers to the smallest residential homes and neighborhoods-- the lights were going out. Their city was going dark. 

GIR pulled down his hood to get a better look at the city before him, his blue eyes seemingly glowing as the diminishing lights casted against them. They both watched in awe as finally the final lights blinked out in the center of the city. Suddenly, Zim felt a twinge of fear in his gut. 

For the year that he had been on Earth, this city was all he had ever known, and to see it all just blink out of existence was a horrifying realization for him. He hated this city more than anything-- so why did his chest begin to ache when that last light went out. 

Dib tightened his grip on his backpack and looked away. He sighed heavily and looked back at Zim and GIR who were still staring on in disbelief. 

“We should go … we need to get as far away from here as possible.” he explained, beginning to shove off. “If we can find an abandoned house or something out here, we can stay there for the night.” 

Zim understood and grabbed GIR, following Dib into the darkness. All he had known was behind him now. Whether he liked it or not, he was sticking with Dib for a while. All sorts of things began rushing through his head as he thought of what to do next. But, right now, that didn’t matter. 

Right now, they just had to run.


	5. Failures to Survivors

“Hurry up, Zim! I can hear more of them!”   
“How much longer do we need to run!? Zim is _exhausted_!”   
“I don’t know! Use your spider legs if you’re tired! We need to move!” 

Zim growled under his breath, clutching GIR in his arms as they ran through the darkness, hearing the impending moans and screams coming from deep inside the forest. Those creatures were gaining on them, and they hadn’t even left the hill that long ago. Every groan that came closer had Zim glancing over his shoulder, making sure nothing was approaching them. GIR, who was shaking like a leaf, was darting his eyes back and forth through the darkness, attempting to locate the horrors that awaited them in there. 

The zombies seemed to be moving so much faster out in the open. When they were confined to the hallways, they were all clumped together. Luckily for Zim and Dib, it gave them enough time to escape. But, now that they were in the forest, it was wide open-- anything could come from anywhere. Despite the noise, the robotic legs shot out from Zim’s PAK, relieving him of exhaustion. He lurched forward, snagging Dib in his grasp. They made plenty of headway between them and the zombies before Zim pulled the three of them into the treetops. Luckily for them, the infected beneath them seemed utterly confused. Their prey had seemingly vanished, and they began walking off in hot pursuit of their meal. 

Safely suspended on one of the sturdier branches, Dib sighed in relief, breaking free from Zim and GIR. Zim’s legs retracted back into his PAK and he stared at the dark ground, trying to make out any shapes of zombies. After several minutes had passed, there were no more groans on the forest floor. 

“We should be able to head back to the ground shortly.” Dib explained, scanning for ground for any moving shadows. “We really need to get out of this forest and find a neighborhood or a house or something. 

“We could stay in the tree tonight and wait for morning.” Zim insisted. He wasn’t too keen on going back on the ground in the darkness. 

“No thanks. I don’t want to accidentally fall out of the tree and kill myself.” 

Zim rolled his eyes, still too exhausted to even reply. It was strange-- by now his strength should have been returning to his body. However, he still felt out of breath. Something felt wrong, but he wasn’t sure what it could be. 

“These zam-bees infect others through biting, yes?” 

Dib turned his head to Zim, confused by his question. “Did I not give you a book of information all about zombies? It says in that.” 

“Yes, yes, I know.” Zim’s antennae flattened. His eyes narrowed at the ground. “But, then Zim got to thinking. Could it infect in other ways? Is a bite not the only way to be infected?” 

Dib finally turned towards him fully, actually quite intrigued in what the Irken was saying. All he ever knew about zombies was that they infected through bites and scratches. Was Zim on to something? Was it actually airborne? But, if that were the case, how come they weren’t infected yet? 

“What do you mean?” Dib cocked his head. 

“In the book you gave me, it referred to this ‘Virus’” Zim used his fingers to imply air quotations, “as ‘Solanum’. How can we be sure this isn’t fiction? Up until now, zam-bees were considered fake, correct?” 

“So, what you’re saying is that it could be something completely different?” It made sense, after all. They had no idea how the infections started, or how it came to be. Dib had seen plenty of zombie media over the years, and every virus was beginning to seem more plausible. 

Zim nodded. “What if it’s a plant? Or something in your disgusting water? Could be airborne as well.” 

Dib gulped. That very well could be. But, he couldn’t just not drink water. It was life itself to him. If he didn’t drink anything, death was imminent. 

“But, I guess we can’t be sure right now. We need to do our best to figure out what this virus is, and how it came to be.” Zim stood up, extending the legs from his PAK. “Well, lets try to find that fictional house of yours.” 

“There’s gotta be one close by. We’ll find one and clear it out to make it safe for the night.” he carefully moved closer to Zim, being careful as he stood up on the branch. 

“Can we sleep in? I’m suuuuuuper tired.” GIR said with an exaggerated yawn. 

Dib only chuckled. “Honestly, sleeping in sounds amazing right about now. If it’s safe, then I don’t see why not.” 

“You both and your need for sleep makes me sick.” he groaned as he took hold of both of them. “Looks like I’m guarding your sorry hides again.” 

Carefully and quietly, he lowered them to the ground, placing them on the ground gently. All that could be heard in the night was the chirping of crickets and the occasional owl. The groans had moved on, and all seemed peaceful for once. All of the legs retracted except for one-- this was Zim’s main weapon, after all. Dib clutched his baseball bat close. 

“If we see any zombies come near us, we take them out quietly. Using guns in such a quiet area will only attract more.” he glanced over his shoulder, seeing the silhouette of Zim nod. He nodded to himself, confirming that he too, understood. 

They moved across the forest floor quickly and as quietly as possible. Beneath them, leaves crunched among grass and dirt. Autumn was fast approaching, which meant the leaves were falling at a rapid rate. This made being stealthy all the more difficult. 

After being surrounded by such thick forest and trees for what seemed like an eternity, the trio finally began to see moonlight poking through the tree canopies. However, with the moonlight came the all too familiar cries and groans from the infected. They hadn’t realized, but, these infected humans actually sounded too … human. It was almost sickening. They approached what they believed to be the end of the forest, revealing an open field. In the field were several zombies, twitching and clawing at their own faces. Beyond the barren, grassy field was a cluster of houses-- a neighborhood! 

Dib clutched his bat and watched as Zim sat behind him. They watched from afar, assessing how many zombies were in the vicinity. Perhaps they were the ones that were chasing them earlier, or perhaps those ones had wandered off and these were new ones. Nonetheless, they saw five zombies in the field, and they needed to plan accordingly. 

“You could probably use your PAK to take out the three in the cluster over there.” Dib whispered quietly to Zim, pointing at said cluster with the tip of his bat. “I can take out the other two.” 

Zim didn’t reply, which caused Dib to turn to him. He raised a brow at the Irken, not that he could really see or anything. 

“Hello? Did you hear me??” 

“Look at them …” Zim replied even quieter. Dib looked out into the field, looking at them. “Look what they’re doing … and the noises they’re making.” 

As Dib noticed earlier, these zombies sounded far too human with their moans and groans. These ones were twitching and they seemed to be grasping their face, and tugging at their skin. 

“Are they still alive …?” Zim asked, almost sounding concerned.   
“They can’t be … they sound like zombies.” Dib insisted. 

“But, they also sound too human. What if they just started to turn?” Zim inquired. He had always talked about how he wanted to conquer the earth and destroy all humans, but now? It just didn’t feel right anymore. 

Dib bit his lip, trying to figure that out. It was true that these zombies acted more human than the ones at the school. Were the ones, including Ms. Bitters infected for that long? It just didn’t seem possible. The outbreak had only just begun, and yet they were already seeing different stages of infection. While it was unsettling, Dib couldn’t deny he was interested in every little bit of this. 

“Dib!” Dib snapped back into reality when he heard the loud whisper from Zim. “So, what do we do? Are we going to kill them?” 

Dib sighed, glancing at the ground for a moment. “We are. We need to get across this field and get to safety. Get ready to fight.” 

Zim bore a look of worry, but, nonetheless he stood up, preparing the robotic legs. GIR stood in the center of them, removing his hood, revealing his red ‘duty mode’ coloration. 

“I can help too.” he explained. “My lasers can stun them! Right, master?!”

“Good, we’ll need all the help we can get. You go with Zim-- he may need help.”   
GIR saluted and waited for any signal from Dib. 

They crept from the bushes, quietly making their way towards the infected. The three of them branched out, Dib moving towards the solitary ones, while Zim and GIR moved towards the cluster. He was confident in their skills-- although, he hoped GIR wouldn’t cause too much of a ruckus with his lasers. 

The closer Dib got to the infected being, he began shaking. He was getting used to this, but these zombies were really throwing him off. The infected that stood before him was shaking like a leaf, its hands up to its face as if it were crying. The growls and moans it emitted sounded incredibly human. Dib could almost hear the voice of the infected person in their moans. This had to be the first step in the infection. He began thinking that maybe during this phase, the host was trying to force the virus out. That idea made his skin crawl. 

Snapping out of his thoughts, he instead swapped out his bat at the last minute. Storing it away quietly, he pulled out the knife he still had. He crouched low to the ground and closed in on the zombie. It was much taller than him, but, he was sure he’d be able to reach the brain. In a quick effort, he jumped up onto the back of the infected person, alerting it. However, before it could make too much noise, Dib was able to quickly stab it’s skull, prompting it to thump to the ground. The other infected being had not seemed to have noticed. Dib glanced over at where Zim and GIR was, watching as he seemingly wiped out the cluster in a matter of seconds. No help from GIR was needed. 

He approached the final zombie before him. This one was moving around, limping about, seemingly crying as it clawed at its forehead. Was it in pain? He readied his knife, and just as he was about to leap into action, he saw something shank through the zombie’s skull. He let out a gasp of fear, only to realize Zim had beaten him to the kill. The Irken stood there smugly while Dib glared at him partially annoyed. 

“You stole my kill,” Dib growled.   
“You can thank Zim later~” Zim replied, pretty happy with himself. 

Ignoring Zim and his smug personality, Dib pushed on through the field. Knowing Zim and GIR would follow him, he didn’t look back. He could hear their footsteps falling into place, so it didn’t matter. The two eventually made it safely across the field and into the deserted neighborhood. There were no streetlights, and no highways-- so it was nothing but a little neighborhood in the suburbs. If everyone had heeded the warnings, they would all be gone. Cars littered the streets, as well as all kinds of papers and litter alike. It seemed like everyone left in a hurry, and those who didn’t left on foot. 

“We need to find a house and get inside quickly.” Dib instructed. “Once we’re in, we’ll barricade the doors, close the blinds and find somewhere to rest.” 

“You really like appointing yourself leader, don’t you Dib?”   
“Someone has to-- and I’m the only one with prior knowledge on this stuff.”   
Zim simply shrugged. “Fair enough.” 

The trio finally found a house that seemed suitable to them. It was a one-story home and had a fairly new car in the driveway. With any luck, they could hotwire it and use it to gather more distance. But for now, Dib longed to just lay down and sleep for a bit. 

As they approached the door, Dib turned back to Zim, motion him for him to get his weapons ready. Without a word, the legs emerged. At this point, Zim was just thinking of keeping them out all the time. It’d be so much more efficient. Joking aside, he stood next to Dib, awaiting further instructions. 

“We need to clear out the house first.” hr instructed, peering in through the glass window on the front door. “If there’s anything in there, we can take care of it, put them in a seperate room from us and make everything safe for the night.” 

Without any further questions, the three stormed into the house, closing the door behind them.

* * *

The house was seemingly quiet. There were no groans, and no sign of infected anywhere in the building, but that didn’t stop any of them from fully securing the place. Dib insisted he’d take the big rooms on the left of the house while Zim checked the bedrooms and such. Not having any fault with his decision, Zim started off for the other side of the house. 

At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All was quiet in the house. Too quiet in fact-- it began to make Zim’s squeedilyspooch churn. Something felt off, but he couldn’t be sure what it was. He checked the bathroom-- all clear. He checked what looked to be the master bedroom-- all clear. He checked another bedroom which was also all clear. He finally came to the last room and noticed this door was locked. Something must be inside. Using one of his PAK legs, he wedged it into the crevice of the door, hoping to break the lock. Although Zim usually had a lack of patience, he persevered and was able to bust the door open. 

Inside, he could hear faint moans and whimpers. These whimpers were different from any other zombies he had heard-- they sounded strained and almost pitiful. The room was filled with plush stuffed animals and the walls were painted with storks and cutesy animals. Nearest the wall was a crib from which the sounds were coming from. Not knowing what any of the furniture indicted, Zim approached the crib, ready to deal with the zombie. However, as soon as he saw what it was, the Irken froze in his tracks, eyes widening. 

In the crab lay a human baby-- or at least, that’s what it had been. The baby was raising it’s arms up, attempting to grab for Zim. It’s new animalistic instincts were telling it to stand up and attack, but, it’s legs hadn’t been developed yet. The baby simply whimpered and tried grabbing for the Irken, but to no avail. 

Zim stumbled backwards, his arms shaking, and feet turning to jelly. How could a human baby become infected? And where were its parents? Zim had studied earth culture long enough to know that a human child’s parents were never too far off. But, now, it seemed as if the child was all alone. Upon closer inspection, Zim noticed a bite mark that had gotten through the child’s clothing. The bite was visible on the child’s stomach. Something horrible had happened, and Zim’s heart thudded out of his chest. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

“Zim? Is it all clear?” Dib called out. He finally found the open door to the room Zim was in and walked in. “Hey, did you hear me? Zim??” 

“Master?” GIR asked, running over and clinging to his leg. He glanced around, noticing the cutesy room they were standing in. GIR let loose an audible happy gasp. “Did you find a baby?!” 

Dib’s eyes widened. “A _baby_??” he pushed aside Zim and walked to the crib, only to have the same reaction as Zim. Taken aback by what he saw, he stumbled the same way Zim had. 

“Oh my god …” Dib said quietly. “How did this happen to it …?” 

Zim shrugged. “There’s a bite mark on it’s squishy belly.” 

Dib ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to do. “Where are it’s parents …?” 

“I didn’t see them either. The entire house is empty.” 

GIR approached the crib, peering through the bars, gasping in horror at the infected baby. “Awww … poor baby …” 

Zim sighed shakily. “Zim can’t do it.”   
“That’s okay. I can do it …” he clutched his knife, gulping as he looked down at it. “I hope …” 

Zim turned away, crossing his arms, waiting for it to finally be over with. GIR walked back over to his master, once again hugging his leg. Strangely, the Irken felt close to tears. He hated humans, and babies and children most of all-- so why did this hurt him so much? 

Dib glanced down at the baby as it whimpered and let little growls escape its mouth. He sighed, preparing the knife. “Sorry this happened to you, little guy …” 

Zim barred his teeth and cringed as he heard the knife inserted with a ‘shuck!’. His entire body shivered, almost feeling as if the knife penetrated his own body. He heard Dib sigh shakily as the baby let out it’s last gargled groan. 

“Zim _doesn’t_ want to stay here …” he shook his head. “We should find another place …” 

“We already cleared it out …” Dib replied. “Well, for the most part …” 

He glanced at the rather large closet in the baby’s room. He figured Zim hadn’t searched through it yet, as the infected baby must’ve caught his attention first and foremost. He approached the door, and opened it. His eyes widened in horror as he saw what lay on the other side. 

“Holy shit …” he said shakily. Zim looked over, eyes widening in horror. Both he and GIR joined at Dib’s side, watching in awe at their discovery. 

Laying in the closet, backs up against the wall, were two corpses. The two’s hands were entwined together-- a man and a woman, both had faces of sorrow on them. Beside the two lay two guns. Dib pieced the puzzle together, realizing what this couple must’ve done. 

“They … must’ve taken the easy way out. Their baby was probably infected and when it died … they didn’t see any more to life anymore …” Dib turned away, covering his mouth as the smell of the corpses began to fill the room. “God, how awful …” 

“That’s so sad.” Zim felt a strain in his voice. “Why would they do that?”   
“Sometimes, Zim, there’s no more to fight for when you’ve lost everything …” 

Zim’s eyes fell half lidded. “When … you lose everything ...?” 

Dib shrugged. “These guys must’ve felt that way ...” He walked back over to the crib, covering the now dead baby in it’s blanket, careful not to get any blood on his hands. He placed the baby gently in the middle of its parents. He backed away, looking to the ground and closing his eyes. 

“It’s only right that they all be together in the end …” 

After a moment, Zim was seeing red. In a flurry of rage, he grabbed the door handle to the closet and slammed it shut, stomping off to the center of the house again. Dib, shocked by the sudden outburst jumped when the door slammed. GIR as well was taken aback by his master’s actions. 

“Zim??”   
“Master?? Where ya goin’?” 

The two looked at each other worriedly then hurried after Zim, closing the door to the nursery behind them. In the living room area of the house, Zim found himself pacing back and forth, hands on either side of his head. The Irken was furious with himself. Furious at the situation. He was utterly confused. He ignored the calls from Dib and GIR as they entered the room. 

“Zim, are you okay?” Dib asked. In his mind he knew it was a stupid question. Obviously Zim was anything but alright. 

Zim was shaking at this point-- absolutely overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions he didn’t even know he could feel. His claws dug into the side of his face as he paced about, making all sorts of angry noises with each step. 

“What kind of Invader AM I!?” he cried. Dib flinched, realizing how loud he was being. “I couldn’t even handle taking care of a CHILD zam-bee! What good AM I!?” 

Flashbacks of what the Tallest told him came rushing back to his mind, making him even angrier. He clenched his fists, bringing them to his side as he tried to desperately control his emotions. 

“Zim, you need to calm down-- there could be zombies nearby!” Zim said in a quiet voice. 

“AND I HOPE THEY HEAR ME, DIB!” Zim cried out again. “What’s the POINT!? It’s STUPID to continue going on!” he pointed a finger back at the nursery, continuing to only see red in his eyes. “Sooner or later we’ll only end up like THEM! Thinkin it won’t happen is FOOLISH!” 

“How can you even say that!?” Dib cried back, marching closer to Zim. “We need to at least give ourselves a fighting chance!” 

“How long do we fight for, Dib!? How long until we’re infected ourselves!?” Tears were beginning to well in the Irken’s eyes. “Once people find out Zim is an alien, they’ll think I’M infected!” 

He began shaking again, realizing how dire the situation really was. “With no disguise, Zim is DOOMED! They’ll take one look at me, you hear!? ONE LOOK! And then Zim is DEAD!” 

“Pull yourself together, Zim!” Dib grabbed hold of Zim’s arm only for him to yank away. "Come on! We'll get through this!" 

“Shut up!!” Zim retaliated quickly, smacking Dib full force across his face, sending him to the ground. 

Dib managed to sit up, groaning as he brought a hand to his stinging cheek. He looked up at Zim with fear in his eyes. Zim was livid. It must’ve not triggered until the given circumstances. But, seeing how mad the alien was made Dib squirm in fear. 

Finally, the red began to fade from Zim. He was regaining some of his senses, and all at once anger was replaced with sadness and fear. Tears fell from the Irken’s eyes as he stared at Dib, seemingly beginning to lose all hope. 

“I don’t want to die here …” his voice ached with fear. “I was going to be the one to conquer this planet … and here I am, nothing but a failure …” 

“Zim …” Dib stood up, taking his hand away from his cheek. He could still feel the singing sensation, but, it was quickly vanishing. He approached Zim, wondering how to get across to him. 

Zim stepped back cautiously, not wanting Dib to come any closer. “S-stay back! Don’t come near me!” 

Dib ignored Zim’s pleas and pulled him into a hug. At first Zim struggled to get out of the embrace, but when Dib began talking, he felt his arms go limp. 

“You say you’re a failure, yet I’m the biggest failure of them all …” Upon hearing that, Zim’s antennae stood up, wondering if he heard that right. “But, you know what Zim? This is a new world. We may have been failures in that old world, but now?” 

He parted from the hug, grabbing Zim by his shoulders and giving him a look of determination. “We can change ourselves in this new world! We don’t have to be failures anymore!”

“You sound so sure of yourself.” Zim raised a brow at him, his face still wet with tears. “How do you know we’ll even make it to tomorrow?” 

“I ...I don’t know if we will. But, I do know that we could’ve died so many times before now, and we can die so many different ways before tomorrow.” he narrowed his eyes and shook Zim. “But, we never stop fighting! Even for a minute!”

Dib pulled Zim back into the hug, tightening his grip. “Up until now we were enemies, but, we should just forget the truce. We can’t afford to be enemies anymore.” he rolled his eyes and gave an annoyed sigh. “Although … I hate saying that. If things do go back to how they used to be, and you plan to take Earth still-- I will stop you.” 

A faint smile returned to Zim and he finally returned the hug. “Of course Zim will still take over the Earth ... “ he sighed and nodded. “I’m over it. No more giving up!” 

“Yaaay~” GIR cheered, running around the two of them. He was ecstatic that all was solved so easily. 

“But, I’m serious about the truce. If we’re going to survive, we need to begin relying on each other.” Dib explained, finally pulling away from the hug. “We can’t afford to see each other as enemies anymore. It may take some time, but, we need to be allies now. It’s the only way we’ll survive.” 

Zim clicked his tongue. “That’s annoying-- but, Zim understands. From now on we’re ... “ he gagged as he spoke the word. “ … _allies_ …” 

“Hey, I don’t like it either, but, we gotta get used to it.” Dib headed for the front door, locking it from the inside. “Help me barricade the entrances, then we can try to get some rest, okay?” 

Zim nodded and helped him move things to block the the doors. Luckily, the windows also had blinds as well, so that gave them even more cover. The ragtag group set up a small ‘camp’ type of setting in the living room, hoping to wait out the night.

* * *

Dib opened his backpack, searching through whatever he had for food. From his backpack he pulled a freshly sealed water bottle out, twisting off the cap and gulping down half the bottle in no time at all. Zim watched on disgusted as he saw him drink it so quickly. 

From his own PAK, Zim fetched the snacks he had grabbed at Dib’s house. He pulled out a bag of chips. Dib had told him that they’d be one of the first things to go stale, so, might as well take advantage of it now. Dib glanced over, reminding him again. 

“Remember-- we need to ration out our food. We don’t know how long we could be without it.”  
“Yes, yes, I remember. Don’t waste the food.” 

Dib finally managed to pull out a can of peaches. He was lucky that they found them at the school. The last thing he wanted to do was start a fire in a house. Having cleaned his knife prior to setting up their camp, he used it carefully to open the can, careful that the tip didn’t touch the peaches or the juice inside. Dib hadn’t realized how hungry he truly was, because as soon as he smelled the peaches, his stomach growled loudly. 

“I feel like I haven’t eaten in so long … it’s been almost two days, I think …”   
“Silly humans and your need to feed. Zim is glad he doesn’t need to bother with your silly needs.” 

Before Dib could even retort, he heard a strange sound. From the distance there was a rumbling that seemed to be getting closer. Dib stood up, worried at what the possible noise could be. Finally, it was made clear when he heard the engines of a jet plane. 

Zim looked around frantically before looking to Dib for answers. “What is that??” 

“It’s a jet, I think …” he cocked his head as he carefully opened the blinds to glance outside. He looked to the sky, seeing the blinking red light vanishing towards the forest. “It’s heading towards the city …” 

“Is it the government?” Zim asked, raising a brow. “Now they’re _finally_ here?”   
“Yeah … that’s weird. I didn’t think there’d be any more jet planes around …” 

Dib sat back down next to a sleeping GIR and continued eating as the quiet enveloped the house once again. There were no zombies around it seemed, which made it all the more calming. All they could hear were crickets chirping, and all felt peaceful for a moment. That was, until another booming noise came. 

They both looked around frantically and GIR jolted awake. The sounds were distant, but they could still be heard for miles. Even more booming noises came, one after another. Zim’s attennae flattened and he rubbed the base of them, trying to drown out the sounds. 

“Are those _bombs_!?” he asked, ducking his head down. 

Dib finally realized what was happening. He began shaking in fear. “I knew it …” he said quietly. “They’re dropping napalm in the city!” 

GIR dropped to the floor, covering his ears as he also attempted to drown out the horrible explosions. 

“We got out of there just in time …”   
“It’s a good thing we left the school when we did …” Zim added. 

After about five minutes, the booming noises finally ended. Dib had a sinking feeling in his gut. He was so glad they weren’t in the city during the air raid. He hated to think what would have happened if they stayed. 

“At least maybe the zombies will be drawn to the fires and the sound now …” Dib stood up, picking up his flashlight and turning it on, pointing it at the couch in the middle of the room. “We should get some rest.” 

“Irkens don’t--”   
“I know you don’t need sleep. But, we’re safe for now. You can at least try to get some rest.” 

Zim nodded, standing up and stretching. He made his way to one side of the couch, laying down and resting his head against the armrest. Dib took to the other side, getting as comfy as possible. GIR took the middle and immediately fell asleep. 

Several minutes passed, and Zim was sure Dib had fallen asleep. He couldn’t see in the darkness, but he hadn’t talked for a while. He was sure of it until he heard him speak up. 

“Do you think I did the right thing, Zim?”   
“Eh??” 

“Back at the school … when I shot Zita,” he sighed. “She looked like she was in so much pain. I figured that was the only way to give her peace … if I hadn’t she would’ve eventually turned into one of those things …” 

Zim didn’t know how to reply. At the time he had criticised Dib for his actions, but looking back on it, it was seeming like the right thing to do. “Zim would like to think so. This whole zam-bee thing really isn’t making much sense. You know so much more about it than me.” 

“I guess, but, I still feel awful about it.” Dib turned on his side, facing the couch cushions. “ I wish they were still alive … we’d have better chances of surviving with all of them.” 

“I’m content with just you, GIR, and I.” Zim retorted. “You know how to fight, and you’re knowledgeable-- GIR, well, he’s my sidekick. He stays with me.” 

“Well, I hope we’ll be okay on our own.”   
“You told me not to give up, so don’t you go givin’ up.”   
Dib chuckled lowly. “I won’t.” he yawned and closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Zim.”   
“Goodnight, Stink-brain.” 

Once Dib was asleep, Zim took out his flashlight along with the book Dib had given him. Even if it wasn’t completely accurate to everything that’s happening, it still was very informational about things not pertaining to zombies themselves. As he read, Zim found himself yawning quite frequently, and he even found himself becoming drowsy. He was confused-- he had never needed sleep before, so why was this happening? Was his PAK maybe malfunctioning? 

All sorts of ideas began running through his mind, but it didn’t matter because within minutes, he was out like a light.


	6. Game Changer

Zim awoke with his head pounding. He felt horrible and could barely make himself stand up. He staggered as he tried standing, using all of his willpower to open his eyes. He was in a dark, large room, seemingly empty and painfully silent. He brought his hand to his forehead, groaning in pain. He couldn’t remember a time he felt this horrible. It took several agonizing moments to realize he wasn’t in the same room he had been in prior. Dib and GIR were also gone-- he was completely alone. 

“Hello!?” Zim called out, feeling no power in his voice. Every call he cried out seemingly echoed in the room. He tried moving, only to be met with immense pain in his legs. He flinched, falling to his knees, holding himself. He desperately tried to grasp reality and remember what was going on. More annoyed than anything at this point, Zim called out again. 

“HELLO!?” he called out, much louder this time. “Is anybody there!?” 

Finally he could hear voices beginning to fade in. His antennae twitched at the sudden noise, thankful to be hearing something. He ran towards the voices, hoping to find them in the darkness. They felt … oddly familiar to him, which made him push past the pain in his legs in order to find them. 

“Hello!!” Zim cried again, in a desperate attempt to find whoever was in the room with him. “Hello! Hello! HELLO!!! Whoever’s here, show yourself! Zim wants answers!” 

Finally, out of the pitch black darkness, came a blinding light. Zim recoiled from the light, hiding his eyes as they dilated due to such brightness. Once Zim’s eyes adjusted, he squinted at the bright light, seeing two silhouettes appear before it. The shadows were tall and seemed to be talking with one another. Finally, Zim pieced the puzzle together and recognized the shadows. His antennae flattened and his eyes widened in horror. 

“My … Tallest …?” he asked, shakily. “M-My Tallest!!” 

One of the shadows looked up as the other followed it’s glance upward. “Did you hear that? It sounded like an annoying squeaking noise.” 

The other shadow shrugged against the light. “Could be Zim. We DID just capture him.” 

Zim was taken aback by their words. Captured? What was going on? He approached the light again, this time much more frantic. He rose his hands up, waving them about, trying to grab their attention. 

“My Tallest! It’s me!! Zim!!” he exclaimed, pushing aside the notion of being captured. “You won’t believe the horrors I’ve been going through!! But, now that I’m saved-- we can annihilate the Earth together!” 

“Oh,” the shadow to the left turned back, revealing it’s red, glistening eyes. “It is Zim. Perfect timing, I suppose.” 

“Yes-- he’ll want to see his ‘friend’ now that he’s awake.” the other added, turning towards Zim. The shadow’s purple eyes gleamed against it’s dark body. 

“My … friend …?” Zim cocked his head to the side, wondering what they could mean by that. Suddenly it clicked in his head. “Wait-- friend? Dib! Is Dib here?!” 

The light dimmed out until the room was completely dark again, only for the entire room to light up. Zim yelped at the sudden blinding lights, sending him into a panic for a moment. He was quick to recuperate, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw thousands of Irkens and the Tallest watching him from the safety of their seats. With the light now engulfing the room, he was able to see that he was in some sort of arena. 

“My Tallest-- what’s going on!?” Zim demanded. “Why am I _here_?! What happened to Earth!?” 

Finally Red stood up from his seat, followed by Purple. Once again, they ignored Zim’s calls and rose up their arms, as the entirety of the Irken race hollered and cheered. Zim only glanced around, a look of pure horror and confusion on his face. 

“Zim,” Zim turned his head back up to his Tallest-- they were finally speaking to him. “I thought we made it perfectly clear that your mission was all a _lie_.” 

Zim’s heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he heard those words in person. It was one thing to be told that in private on a transmission, but now? The entire Irken race was laughing at Zim as he stood beneath them. 

“B-but, you must’ve come to Earth … how would I b-be here if you hadn’t …?” Zim asked, stammering over his words. “Why am I here, my Tallest? At least tell Zim that!” 

Red and Purple looked to one another, giving each other a serious look, then glancing back down at Zim in the pit. Purple placed his hands on the railings, leaning in towards Zim. 

“We just wanted to see the look on your face when you met your last breath!’ Purple said, a sick and twisted smile crossing his face. Zim stared back up in complete shock. 

While the Irkens in the audience roared with excitement, Red snapped his fingers, triggering one of the grates in the bottom of Zim’s pit to open up. In an instant, Zim’s eyes were on it, watching in horror for whatever he was about to be met with. Would it be a horrifying beast? Would he have to fight another Invader? He waited in anticipation for the reveal of his most likely bloodthirsty enemy. 

“Mighty Irken Soldiers!” Purple called out, only to be met with cheers and screams of excitement. “Prepare yourselves for the annihilation of the worst Invader to have ever lived!” 

“And as for Zim,” Red snickered an evil laugh as he glanced down at the less than stellar Irken. “It’s time you were reunited with your friend.” 

From the darkness behind the grate emerged Zim’s nemesis- Dib! Zim was about to run over to him and question him about what happened, but he stopped himself short when he found strange plant-like fibers growing from Dib’s back and out of the side of his head. Dib’s hands were clawing at his own face, making himself bleed from several areas. Sickly groans came from the human’s mouth as he struggled to maintain a sense on reality. Through his glasses, his eyes were a brownish-red, and his mouth gargled with blood. He was infected! 

Zim let out an audible gasp and in a fit of rage glanced back up at his leaders, trembling with horror. “What did you DO to him!?” 

“We simply … sped up the progress of his death. You said it yourself, Zim, it was inevitable.” Red said with a smirk. Zim’s antennae flattened at his response as he heard Dib’s growl’s coming closer. 

The human had sensed Zim’s presence and began charging at him. Horrible moans and screeches escaped his mouth as he charged full speed towards the Irken. Zim let out a scream as he quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding certain death. He flinched as the pain in his legs finally caught up with him.The crowd above them roared with anticipation. Zim glanced up at his leaders with pleading eyes. 

“Stop this!! What good will come of this!?” 

“Hmmm,” Purple put his finger to his lips, humming. “Well, first of all, we HATE you. Second of all, we want to see you DIE.” Roars of agreement lashed out amongst the crowd. 

Zim was caught off guard when Dib thrashed against him, knocking him to the ground. By the time he was regaining himself, Dib was already on top of him, attempting to bite or claw at him. Dib chomped at Zim angrily, trying to break through the Irken’s defenses. Zim was ready to call for the aid of his PAK legs, but, something was wrong. They weren’t coming out! Was his PAK malfunctioning? Zim was beginning to lose strength in his arms, aching from attempting to hold off an aggressive Dib. 

Unable to hold him off anymore, Zim’s arms collapsed under the weight, allowing Dib to lunge at him, biting and tearing into his chest. Zim screamed out in pain and horror, only to be muffled by the cheering crowds above him. His screams were replaced with heavy breathing as he began to go into shock. The laughing Irkens above him began morphing into one horrifying shadow, and the laughs become twisted and demented. He could feel his innards falling to the side as Dib feasted. 

The shadows from above slowly began descending onto the two of them, as Zim was falling in and out of consciousness. As the shadows collided with him, he felt everything go dark. He was dead.

* * *

Zim awoke with a sudden jolt and let loose a loud gasp. He glanced around, realizing he was still in the house he had left off in. Dib and GIR were still on the couch with him, still sleeping peacefully. Zim brought his shaking hands to his chest, feeling his clothes and tugging at them, not able to find any tears or flesh. Slowly, his heavy breaths were replaced with a sigh of relief as he pressed his head back against the armrest. He was still there on Earth. Although he wished the circumstances were different, for once, he was glad it was just a dream. 

He jumped when he heard a loud noise come from Dib as he slept. Zim leapt from the couch, clutching to his flashlight as he pointed it at Dib from afar. Dib’s mouth kept producing such weird noises, each one scaring Zim even more. Fearing that Dib actually had turned, he prepared one of his spider legs and crept closer to the human. 

“Dib?” he said in a whisper. “Dib, are you okay!?” 

The human only responded with more gross mouth noises. Zim gulped, realizing what was happening. Dib turned to Zim, his eyes still closed, making himself comfy on the couch once again. For an zombie, Dib sure still acted very human. Why wasn’t he attacking? Against his better judgement, he readied his attack, and just as he was about to thrust the spider leg into Dib’s skull, the human began opening his eyes. 

“Wha-?” his vision was still blurry, but suddenly they widened and he threw himself into a panic. “ZIM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” 

He backed away on the couch, nearly falling off the armest. He held his hands up to the rather confused Irken. Hearing the kerfuffle caused GIR to wake up who looked all around in his sleepy, confused state. 

“I thought you had turned.”   
“WHY WOULD I HAVE TURNED??”   
“There were awful noises coming from your mouth hole.” 

“I WAS SNORING!” he groaned in annoyance and fixed himself back on the couch. It was still dark out from the looks of things. “You need to calm down. You’re probably still in shock from yesterday.” 

Zim retracted the spider leg back into his PAK and turned off the flashlight before sitting back on the couch. Was that it? Was he still in shock? He figured he was more in shock of the dream he just had. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the dark floor beneath him. It felt so real. He looked over at Dib, wondering if he should even explain it. Dib was mad that he had woken him up, so perhaps now wouldn’t be a good time. Zim also didn’t like the idea of sharing what the Tallest had told him just yet. Zim sighed and crossed his arms. 

“Zim had fallen asleep and had a dream-- a nightmare.” he explained. Dib rose his head, turning to look at Zim’s shadow in the dark. “In that dream we were both back on Irk, but, you had turned and I had to fight you. I didn’t win.” 

“Really …?” To Dib, that didn’t seem like it would’ve felt real, but to Zim, it probably came as a real shock. “Wait … I thought you said Irkens don’t sleep?” 

Zim sighed. “Usually they don’t. I don’t understand it any more than you. I think somethings wrong with my PAK.” 

Dib’s eyes narrowed to the round shadow on Zim’s back. “Something’s wrong with it?” 

“It’s true that it can sustain nutrients for Zim for a long time, but, in order to do such tasks, it needs to prioritize the most important ones.” Zim glanced down, his eyes falling half lidded. “Sleep must _not_ be a priority.” 

“Well, at least it’s just that. Besides, it feels good to sleep. You’ve been missing out on it.” Dib explained, a smile crossing his face. 

Zim turned to the shadow next to him and raised a brow. “Have I?” 

GIR nodded, throwing himself all over the couch. “Yeah! Sleep is the best~!” he ran over to Zim, sitting in his lap and booping his chest. “Sometimes I use a taco as a pillow~!” 

“GIR, do not sit on Zim.”   
GIR saluted with red eyes and launched himself into the middle of the couch again, burying his face into the cushions, trying to make himself comfy again. 

“I don’t think you understand the severity of my situation, Dib,“ Zim explained. Dib was fully sitting upright when Zim said that. “The longest an Irken has been known to go without charging their PAK is two years. Some have gone much shorter. I’ve heard of instances where it pops off in less than a week.” 

Dib’s eyes widened. “Is that Irken time or Earth time?” 

“Does it _matter_?” Zim asked, flattening his antennae. “Even if it is Irken time, it still passes by a lot faster than on Earth.”

The two went quiet, neither knowing what to say after Zim’s declaration. Dib’s only survived as far as he had because of Zim’s technology. Without him he’d have to use his own weapons, and he imagined those would only get so far. Besides, it’s not the same travelling alone. 

“So, what happens when your PAK runs out of energy?” Dib asked, his hands fiddling with his sweater. Frankly, he didn’t want to know the answer, but when the time came it’d be important to know. 

“My PAK will remove itself from my body. Without any power, it can’t look for a new host or reattach itself.” Zim closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “Within ten minutes, Zim will be dead.” 

Dib went quiet, not sure how to respond to the Irken. It happens that fast? Only ten minutes and then it’s over? What if it happened at the worst possible time? What if they were outrunning a horde and then his PAK fell off? Dib brought a hand to his hair, bringing his hand through it. He looked back at Zim’s shadow and confidently spoke to him. 

“Well, when it does happen, we’ll figure something out.” 

Zim looked over, just as confused as ever. “At that point, Zim might as well throw himself to the zam-bees and spare you the burden of having to watch me die.” he chuckled a bit, turning away. “Though, for my nemesis, that’s probably something you’d WANT to see.” 

“Are you _kidding_ me?” Dib scooted closer, being careful not to wake up GIR. “Didn’t I tell you earlier we need to stop thinking of each other as enemies? If we’re going to get through this, we need to work together-- and that includes keeping each other from certain death.” 

“But, I’ll already be dead without my PAK on me. It’s life itself to me.” Zim sighed. “But, I suppose you’re right. We’ll deal with it when the time comes.” 

Dib nodded. “For now, let’s just focus on surviving as long as possible.” he gave Zim a smile though the darkness. “And I’ll be there every step of the way.” 

Zim smiled back, snickering. “You’re so stupid-- stupid and foolish.” he rubbed the back of his head and turned away. “But, thanks …” 

Dib nodded and turned towards the windows, seeing some light poking through. It wasn’t morning yet, but dawn was coming. He yawned again and pushed to his side of the couch. Zim laid down as well, getting himself comfortable and trying to get used to ‘sleeping’. 

“Like GIR said, we can sleep in for today. We’re safe in here. Once we’re up and we’ve eaten we’ll try to look for supplies and things.” Dib instructed. Zim nodded as his eyes began to fall half lidded again. 

Within minutes, the two were fast asleep once again.

* * *

Dib’s eyes blinked open when light from the outside world came in through the blinds. He flinched awake, his sleep ultimately disturbed from the sunlight. He looked to the other side of the couch and saw Zim curled up in a fetal position. It looked like he was still in a deep sleep. It took him a few moments to wake himself up, but when he did he already saw GIR preparing a meal for him and Zim. The happy-go-lucky robot looked back at his human companion giving him the derpiest of smiles. Dib sat up, rubbing his eyes and glanced down at him. 

“GIR?” he yawned loudly. “What are you doing?”   
“Makin’ breakfast for you and master~” GIR replied enthusiastically.   
“What do you mean making …?”   
“I found a pan in the kitchen~” GIR got up and hopped over to Dib, showing him what he made. 

“See?” he shoved the pan in Dib’s face. “It’s breakfast~!” 

Dib took the concoction in his hands, looking into it and smelling it before recoiling. Then he realized GIR had used their food supplies to make this. He looked up at the robot in disbelief as GIR looked back smiling ever so happily. Inside the pan it looked like a concoction of peaches, applesauce, and whatever sugary foods GIR had snatched from Dib’s house. 

“Thank you, GIR,” Dib sighed. “But, you can’t go doing this with our food. I know you only meant to help, but, Zim and I need this to survive.” He looked back down, his lip curving in disgust. “How much of it did you use …?” 

The ears on GIR’s disguise drooped and a sad look overcame the robot. “You … don’t like it?” He picked up a nearby spoon he had used to mix the concoction and shoved it into Dib’s hand. “Just try it! TRY ITTTT!” GIR said, waving it about. 

“Okay, okay,” Dib grabbed the metal spoon from him, clearly aggravated. “Just settle down.” 

Dib looked at the fruity and sugary mess in the bowl. He had to admit, it didn’t smell too bad, but the way it looked … just didn’t resonate too well with his stomach. If it had sugar did that mean Zim would try it? Nonetheless, he took a spoonful, closing his eyes tight as he took a big bite. Expecting it to be horrible, he flinched, but slowly his eyes opened and he chewed it. 

“This … actually doesn’t taste too bad …?” Dib took another spoonful. “It’s _actually_ really good!” Who knew mashing peaches and applesauce with sugar would make such a great meal? Then again, in the apocalypse you can never afford to be picky. 

GIR cheered happily, running around the room, letting out quiet yells of happiness. Dib continued to eat the majority of the peaches swimming around in the bowl until the couch began to shuffle beneath him. Both heard a tired groan come from the couch as Zim started waking up. He came to a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked over at Dib, then at the bowl, then at his robot … then back at the bowl. 

“What … are you holding?” Zim asked, raising a brow.   
“GIR made it. It’s actually really good. You may like it.” he thrusted the bowl into Zim’s hands. The Irken only glanced at it, still trying to wake up. 

“I’m not going to eat this … it’s horrible human food.”   
“GIR added in something sugary. I think you’ll like it.” 

Zim’s antennae perked at the sugar infused with the disgusting concoction. Dib handed him the spoon as Zim studied the weird mixture. He looked back at Dib’s and GIR’s curious faces as he tried it. His facial expressions were the same as Dib’s, if not a bit more extreme. When he didn’t feel sick from the mixture, or feel like throwing himself into a pit, he looked back at the two of them. 

“This is _amazing_!!” Zim exclaimed, eyeing the bowl in amazement. “What’s in this!?” 

“Peaches n’ stuff!” GIR replied excitedly. “I can make more if ya’ want!”   
“NO!” Dib cried, “I’m sorry GIR, you’re an amazing chef, but we need to save it!”   
“Aw …” GIR glanced down but quickly understood the situation. 

Dib hopped off the couch, placing his hands on his hips and glancing towards the window. A determined smile crossed his face. 

“Alright! We got our sleep, and once Zim’s done eating, we’ll clear out the houses in the neighborhood then move on to the next!”

“Why do we need to search the neighborhood if we’ve already found this place?” Zim asked, cocking his head as he took another spoonful. 

“I told you before-- we can’t afford to stay in one place for very long. Especially being so close to the city still. We need to get out of here-- get into the country somewhere.” 

Zim’s eyes narrowed, instantly thinking this was a horrible plan. “If we move farther away from the city, how will we find supplies?” 

“I-” Dib paused, frozen in place for a moment. “Uh, I actually didn’t think about that. OKAY! Then we will move only SLIGHTLY into the country! That way we can make supply runs!” 

“I thought you were an expert on zam-bees and the apple-cleypse.”   
“You mean apocalypse??” Dib couldn’t help but chuckle at Zim’s pronunciation.   
Zim waved his hand about, “Whatever!! You’re supposed to be knowledgeable on these things!”   
“Just hurry up and finish eating. We need to leave soon.” 

Without anymore arguing, Zim finished the rest of their meal in a timely fashion. After regaining themselves for a moment, and checking their belongings, they were ready to walk back out into the unknown. Dib was sure after the large amounts of explosions in the city that most of the zombies would be attracted to that area. That gave him and Zim more opportunities to check the suburbs. 

The neighborhood was a lot bigger than they expected, but they only attempted to raid the bigger and fancier houses, as well as the ones that looked completely abandoned. The last thing Dib wanted was to stumble into a house that still had a family hunkered down inside. It was already mid afternoon by the time they had finished ransacking most of the houses. 

Dib smiled wide as he looked through the contents of his bag. They had found a lot of canned foods as well as some delicious foods that weren’t supposed to go bad for a while. Dib figured he’d just eat those first and then moved onto the canned foods. Meanwhile Zim had found plenty of sugary foods to keep him going, at least until he had to rely on his PAK. Even GIR found his own fair share of treats! 

“This is great guys!” Dib said enthusiastically. “We have so much stuff! We even have more medicine and other supplies!” He threw the backpack over his shoulders. “We’ll be set for a while now! I think it’s time to head out.” 

“Do we gotta …?” GIR asked, falling back first to the ground. “I’m tired again! Can we rest?” 

“GIR, on your feet! We need to keep moving!”   
“I don’t waaaanaaaaa!”   
“GIR!” 

Dib hated to mention it, but he was feeling pretty exhausted from walking all the time too. If they could find something else to help them move with ease, it’d be so much easier. He honestly wish Zim’s spaceship still worked-- but, if that were the case, they’d be far away from Earth by now. There had to be something they could use. 

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Dib noticed something in a nearby driveway. It was a rather new looking car, despite the rust gathering around the wheels. He smiled wide as he began running towards it. Zim and GIR looked at him in confusion. 

“Where’s the stink boy going??”   
“I dunno~”   
“Come on, GIR! Hurry up!” 

GIR jumped up as Zim took off after Dib. They reached the human’s side as Dib glanced into the windows of the car. The car was empty, nobody or nothing was inside. Dib then got on his knees and looked underneath the car-- no surprise zombie was lying in wait for them. 

“What ARE you doing?” Zim asked, crossing his arms as he glared at Dib.   
“We can use this car to get some distance between us and the city. Well, only if it has gas.” 

Zim walked over to the car door and grabbed the handle, ready to pull. Dib noticed and his eyes widened. 

“No! It could be--” 

Zim pulled the car door open and Dib cringed, waiting for an alarm to sound. Seconds passed and nothing went off, and the door was opened. 

“It could be what?”   
“Uh, nothing … let’s go. Everyone get in.” 

Zim placed his hand on Dib’s chest, pushing him away. “Ahem! I’ve been piloting things since before you were born, Dib-beast! I think it’s only natural that a highly trained professional drive one of these filthy contraptions!” 

Dib narrowed his eyes. “You know how to drive one of these?”   
“OF COURSE! What do you take Zim for!?”   
“Fine.” Dib groaned. “Get in then.” 

Dib ran to the other side of the car and hopped into the passenger’s seat as Zim took to the driver’s seat. GIR climbed in through the back door, placing himself in the center of the backseat, watching as his master tried to work the vehicle. 

Although Zim piloted such amazing machinery and space vehicles, he stared at the simplicity of the Earth vehicle for a long time, wondering what each thing did what. Dib looked over at him, a smirk on his face. 

“Well, Zim? I thought you knew how to work these things~”   
“NONSENSE! Of course Zim knows!” he glanced around, a sweatdrop forming on the back of his neck. “Obviously, first you need to … uh …” 

Dib pulled his backpack from his shoulders and placed it in his lap as he began searching around for something. Within seconds he pulled out a screwdriver. Zim looked over, absolutely dumbfounded at such a simple tool. 

“What’s that??”   
“A screwdriver. Watch.” 

Dib inserted the tip of the screwdriver into the slot where the keys would normally go, fiddling around with it. Zim watched in awe. Wondering what was going on. 

“My dad actually taught me this before. You know, him being a scientist and all.” Dib’s eyes fell half lidded for a moment, “Or … was a scientist …” He shook away the somber feelings in his head and twisted the screwdriver once it was firmly inserted. It took a few tries, but the engine on the car began revving. 

“Amazing!” Zim exclaimed, glancing around as the whole car vibrated to life. “Now we’re getting somewhere! Now, to work with this horrible machine!” 

GIR turned away as they babbled on about how to get the car to work and stood up, glancing out of the back window. His doggy eyes widened when he saw infected rising from the alleyways and dark corners of the houses. He let out a scream in fear, causing both Dib and Zim to look back. 

“WHAT!?” they both shouted back.   
“ZAM-BEES!” GIR cried. 

Dib checked the rearview mirror on his side, noticing several zombies coming rushing towards the loud car. He hadn’t realized how loud the engine would be and immediately got a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

“Zim, we need to go! Now!” Dib cried.   
“Yes, yes! I’m getting to that part!” Zim studied the the steering wheel and the different knobs and buttons in front of him. 

Zim was startled when one of the infected slammed against the car door, groaning and screeching. The Irken leapt back in fear and let out a scream of horror as the zombies began to charge at the car. Dib, who had had enough of the shenanigans, crawled over Zim and into the driver’s seat. 

“Ugh, let me do it!”   
“Ow! Hey! Watch it, Dib!” 

With no other choice, Zim crawled into the passenger seat, watching in fear as the zombies smashed themselves against the car. One finally managed to break through the back window, grabbing hold of GIR who in turn let out a scream. 

“Hold on GIR!” Dib shifted the car into reverse, and slammed on the gas. Though he was rather short to be driving, he did so without hesitation. The car was thrown into reverse, driving over several infected, and throwing the zombie attached to GIR out of the window. Once he had reversed into the street, he threw the car into drive and sped off down the street, leaving the zombies in the dust. 

“How are we all doing …?” Dib asked, slightly out of breath. He looked at GIR who was now at the bottom of the car, shaking like a leaf. Zim clutched to the backrest, gasping for air. 

“You. Are. INSANE.” Zim growled, looking over at Dib. “Don’t EVER do that again!” 

Dib glared at him before returning his eyes to the road. “Hey, if it weren’t for me taking over, the zombies would’ve smashed through the car! You could at least thank me for saving our lives!” 

Zim finally settled into his seat, beginning to pout. “Zim could’ve handled it …”   
Dib only rolled his eyes in response. It was going to be a long drive.

* * *

The sky was turning hues of orange and yellow as the sun began to set. The highway had been a long street, heading further into the countryside. Cornfields upon cornfields plastered each side of the road. GIR was fixated on the passing pastures, but Zim was completely bored out of his mind. The Irken seemed as if he were going to pass out from complete boredom. To break the silence, Dib finally spoke up. 

“I wonder if the radio is working …” he turned the knob to the volume, hoping to hear something. All that was on the other end was static. He groaned angrily. “Figures.” 

“What would that radio do for us anyways?” Zim asked, raising a brow.   
“Well, it can play music. I wouldn’t mind listening to some music.”   
“Moosic?” Zim asked, emphasising the word.   
“Actually, you know what? Check the glove compartment.”   
“The what??” 

Dib smacked the area in front of Zim where a little compartment was. Zim looked over at the human confused, then slowly opened it, wondering what would be inside. 

“See if there’s a CD inside.”   
“What is this mythical CD you are talking about??”   
“It’s a little disk. You’ll know it if you see one.” 

After a few seconds of rummaging, Zim finally found what he suspected to be a CD. It was a white disc with big red letters that said ‘M I X T A P E’. Zim turned to Dib and showed him his findings. 

“Yup, that’s what we’re looking for. Open it up and give me the disc.” 

Zim did as instructed and handed it over to him. Dib promptly inserted the disc into the slot. After a moment of reading the dusty disc, music began playing over the radio. Dib instantly recognized the song. 

“Oh, hey! I know this song!” he turned up the radio and turned his attention back to the road. “Whoever owned this car had a good taste in music.” 

Zim only groaned in disgust at the strange notes hitting his antennae. Zim, who hadn’t really engaged in music listening was absolutely repulsed by the idea of having to listen to this for any longer than a few seconds. GIR, who had never heard this song before, threw his hands into the air, squealing with glee. 

“I love this song!” he cheered. 

Dib looked back at the robot in the rearview mirror with a smile. He then looked to the clearly annoyed Zim and nudged against his shoulder. Zim looked back with anger in his eyes. 

“Come on, Zim! Loosen up!” he shoved Zim again, only to be shoved back a lot harder by the Irken. Dib narrowed his eyes and his smile turned to a frown quickly. “Or not. Damn. I was just joking around …” 

Zim relaxed his chin in his hand and glanced out the window, listening to the music against his will. He tried his hardest to drown out the horrible sounds, and he was doing a good job at it until he heard singing kick in. He groaned in disbelief. Was this some form of torture? He pressed his face against the glass, his cheek sliding down as he threw a fit. 

_‘If I leave here tomorrow,  
Would you still remember me?’_

“Turn this off!” Zim began to reach for the knob when Dib grabbed his wrist.   
“Leave it! I _found_ the car-- _my_ rules!”   
“UGGH!” Zim yanked away and returned to his window. 

_‘For I must be travelling on now,  
Cause there’s still too many places I’ve got to see’_

Zim watched as the cornfields out in the distance were replaced with hills and trees. Wondering about the new scenery he glanced ahead, noticing they were headed for a tunnel. Watching the darkness come closer, he gripped the side of his seat, wondering what lay on the other side. Zombies? Most likely. He couldn’t focus with the music playing, that was for sure. 

_‘But, if I stayed here with you, girl  
Things just couldn’t be the same’_

The vehicle went through the tunnel, and almost automatically one could see light on the other side. Zim was ready to release the robotic legs from his PAK at a moment’s notice. He waited impatiently for Dib to drive out of the darkness, and when he did, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

_‘Cause I’m as free as a bird now  
And this bird you cannot change, oh, oh oh, oh-’_

Zim’s eyes widened in awe as they were seemingly in an enclosed forested area. The light from the sun peeked through the leaves, casting a rather beautiful light onto the grass and road. The autumn weather was beginning to set in, and therefore, the leaves were falling from the trees as a breeze blew past. Dib rolled down his window and looked out, a look of awe also crossing his face. Zim saw as he rolled it down and did the same, sticking his head out. His antennae began blowing in the breeze from the car. 

_‘And this bird you cannot change  
And this bird you cannot change’_

“I never knew this was here.” Dib said quietly. 

Zim placed his hands on the car door and stared out at the fall scenery around them. 

“I never knew Earth looked like _this_ …” Zim replied even more quietly. 

From the back seat, GIR frantically ran from either side of the car, trying to take it all in. “Look at all the pretty colors~!” 

Zim pulled his head back in, but he still looked at the scenery. “It’s ... _beautiful_.” A small, curious smile crossed his face. 

Dib looked over at Zim, raising a brow at the Irken. A smirk crossed the boy’s face. “What was that?! Did you, an alien sent to conquer Earth, just call it BEAUTIFUL?!” 

“Uhhh,” Zim turned away, hiding his face as it flushed a darker green. “No! You heard wrong! That was GIR!” 

“Nah, I’m pretty sure I heard that come from you~”   
“YOU HEARD NOTHING OF THE SORT!”   
“Did too~”   
“LIES!” 

Zim pushed against Dib, who in turn retaliated against the Irken shoving him back. Dib erupted into laughter, and seeing the human react as such made Zim begin laughing as well. As the two pushed and shoved against each other, messing around, GIR also found himself in a laughing fit in the back seat. 

_‘Bye, bye, baby it’s been a sweet love, yeah  
Though this feeling I can’t change’_

Once the two settled down, Zim relaxed back in his seat, folding his hands in his lap. A nervous smile crept across his face as he bit his lip, holding back his words for a moment. 

“Despite everything … this is nice.”   
Dib looked over at him confused. He let loose a chuckle. “What?”   
“Zim _said_ that this is nice. Open your listening holes.” 

_‘And this bird you cannot change, oh, oh, oh, oh  
And this bird you cannot change’_

Dib smiled at Zim. It was a sincere smile. Nothing ill natured about it. “I’m glad. It’s nice for us to be talking and not have it be about certain doom.” 

“I suppose,” Zim responded, scratching the back of his head. 

“Awww,” Gir said, meshing his paws together. “I wish I had a camera~ This is so cute~” 

The two turned back to GIR with annoyed expressions, only for GIR to reply with a giggle. Dib turned his expression back to the road, only for him immediately to slam on the breaks. Someone was in the road! 

“HOLY SHIT!” 

Zim grabbed hold of the seat, digging his claws into the leather, bracing for impact. GIR quickly dove to the floor, covering his head. Despite having pressed on the breaks, Dib still crashed into the person in the road, sending them flying over the hood and over the back. 

_‘Lord knows, I can’t change  
Lord, help me, I can’t change  
Won’t you fly high, free bird, yeah’_

“Holy fuck, I hit them!” Dib cried. “Are they okay?”   
“Be careful, they may be a zam-bee!”   
“Let’s go check!” 

The car came to a complete stop, and Dib flung the door open. Zim followed suit, both of them standing at the back of the car and watching from a safe distance at who they hit. GIR joined them, still letting the music blare from the radio. Blood splattered against the pavement as the person rose to their feet. The person then glared at them, the same dead eyes as the zombies they had fought earlier and then lunged at them. Instantly, Zim sent out his robotic legs and struck it through the head. 

“Well, at least they weren’t alive …” Dib said quietly. 

“Wait, quiet …” Zim brought a finger to his lips, letting them know to be quiet. “Do you hear that?” 

Above the guitar solo playing in the car, the trio could hear screeches and moans closing in on their location. Dib beckpaddled back to car, as did Zim and GIR. But, it was no use-- the zombies were already charging at them from over the hilltops. Zim narrowly avoided one as it charged straight into the car, leaving a dent in the door frame. 

Dib grabbed his backpack from inside the car and slammed the door shut. “Forget the car! Run!’ 

Zim watched as Dib took off into the forest. He picked up GIR and followed after him as they ran into the brush, the zombies not far behind them.

* * *

The music from the car was still loud and clear even as they ran further into the forest. They had gained some distance between them and the zombies and found a large tree to hide behind. The three stopped behind it, hoping to be able to catch their breaths. 

“We’re going to have to … deal with them eventually …”   
“Zim knows that, but,” Zim went to look around the tree when a zombie suddenly slammed into him. 

GIR was sent flying and Zim was ultimately pegged to the ground. Dib attempted to rush to his rescue, but even more zombies rushed at him. He took out his bat, and took on one of the zombies, bashing it in the head. It took a couple good swings before it hit the ground dead. 

GIR had had enough of sitting on the sidelines and blasted into one of the zombies, shooting it with lasers. The zombie exploded in a matter of seconds. As Dib and GIR held off the rest of the zombies rushing at them, Zim struggled against the one he was facing. Before long, he was finally able to get the upper hand and struck it through the head with one of his legs. He crawled out from underneath the now dead zombie and rose to his feet.

Dib and GIR finished off the ones they had been fighting and the trio took off even deeper into the forest. Zim grabbed hold of both of his companions and extended his robotic legs, letting them carry all three of them to safety. Before long, they couldn’t hear the music from the car anymore, nor could they hear any zombie screeches. 

The three eventually made it to a clearing just outside of the trees and could finally relax there. Zim lowered his friends to the ground as the spider legs retracted back into his PAK. The three sat in the grass, listening intently for any remaining infected to show their undead corpses, but nothing appeared. The three of them gasped for air until finally they were able to speak. 

“That was HORRIBLE!” Zim exclaimed, falling back onto the grass. He stared up at the orange sky above them. “Zim just wanted to take in the sights!” 

“I know what you mean. They’re really starting to get on my--” Dib glanced over at Zim and something caught his attention. His eyes widened, and he felt a lump grow in his throat. “... O-oh God …” 

Zim looked at the human confused and sat back up. “Eh?? What’s _wrong_?” 

“Y-your arm …” Dib choked out. 

“What about--?” Zim glanced down at his arm, and his own eyes widened in disbelief. There was a tear in the hoodie he wore, and even further down a tear in his tunic, revealing his green skin. Pink blood seeped from a bite mark that was now visible on the Irken’s skin. “O-Oh … oh no …” 

Zim rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie to get a better look at it. He removed his glove and pressed his fingers against the skin to make sure it truly was a bite. Their eyes didn’t lie. Zim was indeed bitten. 

“N-no … Oh, Irk … no, no--” he shakily rubbed his hand over the bite many times. “This can’t be _happening,_ … not now …” 

GIR cocked his head and looked to Dib. “What’s wrong with Master?”   
“H-he’s bit …”   
GIR gasped and approached Zim, tears welling in his eyes. He dove into Zim’s lap and hugged at his waist, now sobbing. 

Zim looked to Dib, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. “Wh-what do we do _now_ …?” 

Dib shook his head, bringing a hand to his forehead. “I-I don’t know … I do know of something that could work, but … I’ve only ever seen it in a show!” 

“Anything!” Zim cried, tears finally falling. “What is it!?” 

“If we … amputate the bitten area …” Dib gulped, feeling a shiver shoot down his spine. “... Then you MAY have a chance to live …” 

“Amputate!?” Zim cried, immediately standing up. “A CHANCE!? No, no-- no no no--” he brought both of his hands to his antennae and yanked at them, a wave of panic and stress shooting through the Irken. “I can’t do that. There’s no way!” 

“Zim--” Dib tried to call out to him, but he continued. 

“This isn’t fair!” Zim cried out. “You said we were going to make ourselves better in this world! Zim can’t die now! What are we supposed to do now!?” 

“Zim!” 

“No, Dib! I won’t let you amputate it! There’s no guarantee I’ll survive!” he felt a tingling sensation in his arm, and immediately felt like he was going to be sick. “Oh, Irk, please … oh let me be dreaming!” 

“Zim!!” Dib called again, even louder. 

“The Tallest were right about everything!” Zim fell to his knees, holding his face as he began to panic even more. “You were right about everything Dib! I’m … NOTHING!” 

“ZIM!!” Dib exclaimed finally. “Look at your arm!” 

“I KNOW!” Zim cried back in a rage. “IT’S BITTEN! WHAT ELSE DO YOU--” Zim raised up his arm to emphasize his point, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw steam, or an equivalent, rising from the wound on his arm. 

All three of them watched in amazement as the steam rose from his arm, and the wound began to sizzle on his arm. Zim flinched at the pain, but never took his eyes off the wound. Within minutes, it was as if the wound had completely vanished from his skin. There was no bite mark. There was no blood left trailing on his arm. It was gone. Zim looked up at Dib with wide, horrified eyes. 

“Zim …” Dib started, grabbing hold of the Irken’s hand to study his arm. “A-Are … are you …” 

He gulped, running his own fingers over the area where he had gotten bitten. He looked back up at Zim, both of them sharing a worried glance. 

“Immune …?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, I can't believe Zim's a titan shifter. /shot   
> I've been waiting to make that joke, and for anybody who doesn't watch Attack on Titan, you probably won't get it. 
> 
> Aside from that, I've been wanting to write this chapter for so long! There were two scenes I was so excited to write!  
> First, the scene where they're driving through the the autumn landscape and Zim begins having a change of heart about Earth. The other one was when they see what happens to Zim's wound. Is it an Irken thing? Who knows~? 
> 
> Also, the song they were listening to is Free Bird, which you can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzMUsD8OB2c
> 
> Thanks for reading, as always everyone! Your comments and support all mean a lot <3   
> If you want to see any doodles or updates on the fic/AU, be sure to follow me on tumblr at minish-mae!


	7. Separation

Dib still stared in shock at the Irken’s arm, trying to reassess what had just happened. The would had disappeared, but that didn’t necessarily mean Zim was immune. Perhaps his race could fare well against Earthly diseases and such? He looked to Zim who only looked back with worry in his eyes. 

“ _Is_ Zim immune?” his antennae perked up, “Is that what this is? Please, tell me you know!” He grabbed Dib’s sleeve tugging on it a bit. To Zim, the very situation was bleak. If he was going to die soon, what was left for him on this miserable planet?

“I don’t know for sure,” he looked around, first at the setting sun, and then back into the woods they came from. “But, we can’t stay out in the open. We need to find some shelter, and then we can figure everything out then.” 

Dib looked to GIR who was still looking up at them in confusion and terror. Dib urged the small robot to follow, and he obeyed. Dib was unsure of what to make of the situation. He had seen plenty of zombie media in his lifetime, but even then he wasn’t sure what to expect. Zim was an alien, and he had never seen anything like how Zim’s body reacted to being bit. It was never portrayed in any media, and it wasn’t written in their book. If worse came to worse, Dib would have to put Zim down when the time came. Though, he really hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that-- especially so soon. 

“What’s the point,” Zim’s antennae flattened, and his voice fell to a callous whisper. “Zim will probably die either way. What’s the use?” 

“You’re not going to die!” Dib barked back, glaring back at the surprised Irken. “Not yet at least! If we can figure out what happened, then maybe there’s a chance we can still save you!” 

Zim’s eyes narrowed, but he didn't seem angry. He spoke, his breath shaking with fear. “I’m not amputating my limbs. That’s insane.” 

“I can’t make you do anything, I suppose,” he grabbed the Irken and robot’s arms, tugging them along. “But, we need to hurry and find shelter before anything else happens.” 

Zim simply nodded and remained quiet for the rest of the trek. They were unfortunately out in the middle of nowhere, walking through plowed down cornfields. After having made so much headway in the car earlier, it was stupid to even consider backtracking. But, the sun was setting at an alarming pace, and all three of them knew none of them wanted to be out after dark. Too many things could creep up on you; zombies, wild animals, humans, the list was endless. 

Even as the sun was setting, Zim took every chance of sunlight he had left to look down at his arm that had been wounded. No matter how he looked at it, the bite and blood was gone. It was as if his skin had healed itself no problem. He kept running his fingers over his skin, attempting to find a nick or some kind of bump, but there was nothing.   
“Don’t keep touching it--” Dib growled, turning back and grabbing Zim’s hand. “That’ll just irritate it more!” 

Zim glared at his nemesis. “Looks like the only one Zim is irritating is you, Dib-filth.” 

“You are. Now stop.” Dib threw his hand to the side, and then proceeding to walk faster. “We should have antibiotics or something from that first aid kit we nabbed at the school.” 

“I don’t need any of your disgusting human medicine! Zim is fine!” he looked back at his arm, a knot forming in his gut. “I hope …” 

Dib sighed as they walked into a new field of corn stalks, this time they were fully grown. He pushed the plants out of their way, making a path for them as they stomped over the muddy earth beneath them. He was hoping they’d find some sort of farmhouse, and hope that the farmer wasn’t still around. Even a barn perhaps. Darkness began to fall over the world as crickets began chirping throughout the field. 

Dib looked back at Zim, worried. “How’s your arm feel?” 

Zim shook his head. “I don’t feel anything. There’s no pain, and it doesn’t feel hot. It’s not numb, or anything.” he looked back up at the human raising a brow. “Should I be feeling anything.” 

Dib hummed in thought, pushing more stalks out of the way. “In the things I’ve seen, you’ll know it’s becoming infected because it’ll feel like your arm fell asleep-- it’ll feel all tingly. Or, you’ll start feeling sick-- sore throat, headache … you’re not feeling any of that?” 

“No, nothing.” he insisted. “That must be better than something??” 

“I guess, but, you were still bitten. Let’s just find shelter for starters.” 

Dib cut himself short when he heard groans in the distance. He turned to Zim who nodded, understanding the circumstances. He grabbed GIR, holding him close and extended the legs from his PAK. Because of the cramped space in the cornfield, Zim was at a bit of a disadvantage. Dib took hold of his bat in one hand, as he continued to push through, making a path. 

Finally, the groans were beginning to come a lot closer. It didn’t sound like they were rustling through the corn stalks with them. Were they perhaps nearing the end of the field? Dib pushed through more corn, only to find the ending of the field. He smiled victoriously only to be met with a zombie thrusting itself at him. He let out a yelp, using his bat to keep the infected being off of him. Zim was quick to think and thrust a leg through the skull. Dib immediately pushed it aside, standing back up. 

“Are you okay?” Zim asked, lifting Dib’s arms and checking over them. “You’re not bitten, are you?” 

“I’m fine. It didn’t get me.” he assured him, walking out of the dark field.

They now stood in a grassy field, with a big building in the distance. This seemed like the perfect place to hole up for the night. Dib pointed the tip of his bat towards the building, instructing his companions to follow him. Fearing that there were more dead wandering around, Dib picked up the pace until he was in a sprint. Zim followed after him just as fast. 

Before long, Dib came to a stop, as there was a barbed fence before them. His immediate thought was that they were on a cattle farm. Dib studied the barbed wire, wondering if it was still electrified or not. It wasn’t worth the risk to touch it. He turned back to Zim, requesting his help. 

“Can you use your PAK to get us over this?”   
“... Are you kidding me? It’s just a fence.”   
“It could have electricity still going through it. Just do it, Zim.”   
“You’re pathetic.” 

Somehow, Zim found it in him to obey and grabbed Dib as well, vaulting the three of them over the barbed fence. GIR curiously scoped out the scenery and the elongated fence as well. 

“Why’s there a fence all the way out here?” the robot dog asked. “Is it keepin’ something in?”   
“I think we’re on a cattle farm. Which means that building might be a barn!” Dib explained. 

GIR cocked his head, staring up at Dib. “A barn?” he then let loose a happy gasp. “ARE THERE COWS HERE!?” 

Dib, in a panic, turned back to GIR, finger in front of his lips. “SHHH! God, GIR, don’t be so loud!!” 

Zim looked angrily at his sidekick and nodded. “Keep quiet GIR! It’s dark out, and we can see any zam-bees!” 

Before GIR could even agree or argue back, the trio heard a distressed call from further in the field. It didn’t sound human, but more animal like. They stared into the darkness, frozen in fear at the possibilities of what the sound was. GIR jumped out of Zim’s arms and wandered off into the darkness. 

“GIR!” Zim cried out. “Get back here!”   
“Oh my god, GIR!” Dib exclaimed, chasing after the robot into the darkness. “You can’t run off!!” 

Before long, they found the source of the noise, as well as GIR. GIR stood beside a toppled over cow, which had been grazing in the field. Next to it, a zombie sat which was busy feasting on it. Blood and guts spilled out from the animal’s wound as steam rose into the night sky. The massive animal was mooing out pleas for help as the infected ate it’s fill. Obviously, the zombie didn’t seem to mind the new arrivals … or it just hadn’t noticed yet. 

“What on Irk is it …” Zim brought his hand to cover his mouth in disgust, absolutely appalled by the disemboweled cow, “ … They eat Earth animals too …?” 

“They eat anything they can get their grubby hands on …” he picked up his bloody bat and walked over to the zombie. Just as it noticed Dib, he took a swing, throwing the infected to the ground. He kept taking swings at it until it’s skull caved in. Upon closer examination, this infected was wearing overalls with a plaid shirt. It was obvious who it was. “Well, looks like we found out what happened to the farmer …” 

GIR crouched beside the cow as it moaned out in pain. It was obviously struggling to stay alive. The robot brought his dog paws to the cow’s head, patting it gently. He was getting very overwhelmed. 

“Cowww ….” Gir sniffled, rubbing his head against the animal’s own head. “I’m sorry, cow …” 

GIR looked back up at his travel companions, looking rather heartbroken. “I-is there no way to save him? Human Dib said we had lotsa medicine!” 

“GIR, it’s too far gone … there’s nothing we can do.” Dib explained.   
“Even if we could-- it’s been bitten.” Zim added, brazingly. “We need to go, GIR.” 

“B-but …” GIR pressed his head against the animal once again, now beginning to sob. “We can’t let cow turn …” 

“Animals can’t turn,” Dib grabbed one of GIR’s paws and tugged him away, forcing him along. “Come on, we need to get to shelter.” 

“BUT, COW!” GIR cried out sorrowfully. That was too loud for Dib’s liking, and he grabbed the robot, glaring at him. 

“GIR, listen to me! What's more important is that we find shelter, understand?” Dib shook him to get his point across. “Zim could still be infected, and we need to get to a safe place. What’s more important, something we can’t help or your master?” 

GIR’s eyes fell half lidded and sad. “Master’s more important …”   
Dib nodded. “Good. Now come on. We can’t stay out in the open anymore.” 

Dib tugged GIR along, ensuring he wouldn’t be tempted to leap away again. With no more groans, they were seemingly in the clear. There was no farmhouse from what Dib could see, but the barn was looming ever closer. To his knowledge, Dib had just taken care of the turned farmer and possibly his wife or a neighbor. Odds are that they would be pretty safe for the night. 

From what little light they had, Dib looked out into distant pastures and could see plenty of cattle grazing in the overgrown grass. That meant the barn would be empty, which was perfect for them. Once they neared the barn, Dib finally let go of GIR. From the pocket on his backpack, he grabbed his flashlight. Zim did the same and grabbed his from within his PAK. 

“We’ll clear out the barn and get up as high as we can. We’ll lock the doors from inside, barricade them and make sure it’s safe,” he turned back to GIR and gave him a serious look. “And, if there’s any cows in here, don’t go crazy, GIR. Remember to be quiet.” 

GIR nodded, understanding what he had just done was very wrong. Dib neared the barn doors, putting his ear up to the barn gates, wondering if he could hear anything from inside. To his surprise and much to his relief, it seemed quiet inside. Once again, to reiterate his point, he turned to both of his companions with a finger to his lips, shushing them, before entering. 

The barn was dark, and there were no sounds coming from inside. There was no mooing coming from cows, and no moaning coming from infected. But, quiet was just not enough for Dib. He had to ensure that the entire place was safe before they settled down. He turned back to the barn doors once everyone was inside, and together with Zim they closed them, locking them from the inside. Dib turned back, flashing the light from one area of the barn to the other. To his surprise, this barn didn’t seem like a cattle barn, but more of a storage barn. It was smaller than he had thought, which was better for them. 

After thoroughly searching the barn and making sure it was clear of any infected, or ways for the infected to get in, the trio began looking for a place to settle down. While Dib and GIR looked around the front of the smaller sized barn, Zim was looking in the back area. His eyes widened when he had found something of interest. There was a ladder leaned up against the back wall of the barn. In a loud whisper, he called Dib and GIR to his side. 

“What’s this? A ladder?” Zim asked, raising a brow.   
“Looks like it. It might be a loft. We could probably use this, so long as it’s clear.” 

Dib took the initiative to climb up first, looking below as Zim and GIR followed suit. He was ready to grab his bat at a moments notice, waiting for any infected to be awaiting them at the top. Once Dib reached the top, he warriedly waved the light around the top. He was relieved when he didn’t see anything. Letting out a sigh, he helped himself up and then proceeded to help Zim and GIR up. 

“We can stay up here for the night.” he insisted, glancing back down at the barn doors. “Those doors are locked, so we should be fine.” 

The trio remained quiet for a moment before Zim looked over at Dib with a blank expression before his eyes fell half lidded, worriedly looking at his companion. 

“So, what now?” he asked, antennae flattening.

* * *

Zim looked up at Dib with anger in his eyes. “Is this really necessary?”   
“It is-- until we find out if you’re infected or not.”   
“If I was infected, something would be happening by now.”   
“It’s just for mine and GIR’s safety--”   
“GIR’s a robot-- he can’t be infected”   
“Okay, then it’s for MY protection!” 

Dib had taken a rope from his backpack that he had got at the school, and was now tying Zim to a beam nearest the loft wall. Ensuring this would be enough, he only tied the Irken’s bitten arm to the beam, making sure it was tight and double knotted for good measure. 

Zim narrowed his eyes at Dib. “I’m telling you, I’m fine.” 

“I want to be sure, Zim,” Dib stood up and walked over to his backpack. “If you don’t have a fever by morning, then I’ll assume what I said about you being immune is correct.” 

Zim groaned, falling over onto the hay covered wooden floor as his arm still dangled, attached to the beam. Dib seemingly ignored him as he threw himself all over the place. 

“So much for a truce, you LIAR!” Zim growled, “Now you have me tied up! What if the zam-bees get in here!?” 

“They can’t climb-- you know that!” Dib reassured him. “You’ll be fine. And if things look bad, I’ll untie you. I just don’t want one seriously pissed off alien biting me in my sleep.” 

“I AM RIGHT NOW!!” Zim cried, throwing himself over again, hoping to loosen up his wrist. It didn’t seem to be working, however. That didn’t stop him from trying to wriggle free. After several moments, Zim lay in a heap of hay, breathing heavily and making very angry sounds. 

Dib looked at him from the other side of the loft. He was now sitting, enjoying a bag of chips that were slowly going stale. “You done yet?” 

Zim sat back up and glared at Dib. “Zim will NEVER be done!! How DARE you call a truce and then proceed to tie me up!?” 

Dib only rolled his eyes and grabbed a handful of chips. GIR sat beside him, looking out a nearby window, his eyes still bearing a sad expression. Zim pounded his fist into the wooden floor beneath him and pressed his head against the wall. Dib was nearly chuckling at the sight-- if he wanted out so bad, why didn’t he just untie himself? How stupid. 

“This is stupid,” he spat. “Whenever Zim turns and becomes infected, I’m _eating_ you first!” 

Dib rolled up the nearly empty bag of chips and stashed them back into his backpack. “Don’t be so quick to wish to die.” he got up and walked over to Zim before sitting in front of him, the flashlight sitting in between them. “Now that we’re safe, we can talk about everything that happened earlier.” 

Zim froze for a moment and looked up at Dib with big eyes. He reluctantly nodded. Honestly, he wanted to find out more about what was happening too. If they could find out anything that proved he wasn’t infected, Zim would be grateful. Moreso because his wrist wouldn’t be tied to a wooden beam at that point. 

“Do you have any idea why your skin immediately started to heal?” Dib cocked his head as he asked his question. “Is that an Irken thing, or?” 

Zim shrugged, “It’s happened before. You recall last Halloween when I injured my entire body?” 

Dib chuckled slightly, nodding. “I do. It was pretty awesome.” 

“My body can heal wounds much faster than Earthlings can with their bodies. While your kind may take many Earth months to heal, my kind can be healthy within a few hours.” he explained. He then pointed to his eyes, widening one for emphasis. “I also stared at your sun for far too long and my eyeballs burned away. They healed quickly.” 

Dib was close to laughing at this point. “Why would you look directly into the sun, you moron?”

“I WAS LOST AND NEEDED TO KNOW WHERE I WAS!!” Zim cried in retaliation. “Anyhow, that isn’t the point! The point is that, yes, my body can regenerate and heal wounds relatively quickly!” 

Dib sat back, folding his hands in his lap as he looked down at the ground. “So, your wound is healed, but, for all we know you could still be infected.” 

Zim’s antennae flattened and his voice grew more strained. “We don’t know that.” 

“No, we don’t, and that’s why I want to be careful. At least for the night.” he stood back up, and retreated back to his side of the loft, padding down the hay to make his sleep area comfier. “Just try to get some sleep for tonight, Zim. If you feel anything at all, let me know. We’ll leave at first light.” 

“You tell Zim to rest, and yet,” he glanced back at his wrist tied to the beam and groaned angrily before attempting to lay down. 

Dib turned off the flashlight and tried making himself cozy. Before long, GIR ran over to sleep beside the human, nestling up closer to his warm body. Meanwhile, Zim was struggling to get comfy. After many failed attempts to lay down, Zim finally gave up, grunting in frustration as he sat back up, and pounded his head against the wall, sighing in anger. 

Dib, having noticed his struggle, sighed and stood up. Zim noticed his shadow walking over and raised a brow at him. Before he could ask what Dib was doing, he felt something soft drape over him. From underneath the softness, Zim called out. 

“Eh?? What is this??”   
“It’s a blanket. I got it at the school.”   
“Why are you giving Zim this blank-eet??”   
“Because you won’t shut up and I want to sleep? Just use it.” 

Using his free hand, Zim pried the soft fabric from his head, staring at it for a moment. He wasn’t sure what a ‘blanket’ was, or much less what one was used for. He looked back up at Dib confused. 

“Don’t you need this blank-eet?”   
“I’ll be fine tonight. You use it.” 

As Dib walked back to his sleeping area, Zim only continued to stare in confusion at the strange gift he had received. What was the point of it? It was soft, but, aside from that it didn’t seem to have any other use to Zim. At that moment, a breeze started up outside, blowing in through the barn window. Dib shivered, but soon felt it pass. Zim, on the other hand, who still wasn’t used to Earth’s strange weather patterns, felt the cold stick with him much longer. 

“Hmmm …” he mumbled, staring at the blanket. He then wrapped it around his back, carefully maneuvering it over the tied arm and back around his shoulder. Almost instantly, it felt like another layer had been added on, and he suddenly felt a lot warmer. A content smile crossed the Irken’s face as warmth enveloped him. 

From where he sat, he saw the silhouette of Dib turned away from him. GIR was cuddled up against his back, trying to find warmth as well. Zim sighed and closed his eyes. He spoke in the quietest of voices he could muster. 

“Thank you …” 

Within minutes, the group of misfits had fallen asleep.

* * *

Zim was awoken with a jolt, after having someone grab his arm. He extended one of his PAK legs, ready to attack whatever was touching him. He was met with something covering his mouth, and when he finally opened his eyes, he saw Dib with a worried expression. Through the human’s hand he managed to mumble his name in a worried manner. 

“Shh! Be quiet Zim!” Dib said in a whisper. He pulled his hand away from the Irken’s mouth. “There’s someone outside. I can hear them whistling and walking around.” 

Zim’s antennae flattened before looking back at his tied up wrist. Reluctantly, Dib untied him-- hoping he wouldn’t turn at an inopportune time. Zim immediately stood up and looked to the window. The sun was beginning to rise, and a cool morning breeze began to blow through the barn. On the wind, Zim could hear the whistling too. 

“We should leave GIR here,” Dib said, glancing back at the sleeping robot. “If things get bad we can come back and grab him.” 

“No need to worry, Dib-smelly, Zim has it all under control.” he once again tapped his PAK, “I have a transmitter that will allow me to call him.” 

“Okay, great.” he looked towards the still darkened barn below the loft. “Let’s go confront this guy. We don’t attack until we’re in danger, okay?” 

“We’re always in danger, Dib,” Zim corrected him. “You want us to make friends with this person?” 

“Maybe not friends, but, let's just let him know we’re not dangerous. We have a lot of stuff, maybe we can trade or make a peace offering--” 

Zim’s eyes widened as he shook his head fast. “We are NOT sharing our supplies!” 

“We’ll see what happens.” Dib took to the ladder first, climbing down with speed. “Let’s go.” 

Zim followed after him, continuing to hear the unsettling whistles as they approached the barn doors. Zim felt the skin on his back crawl with anticipation. Dib reached the door first and urged Zim to come to his side. When he joined him, the two unlatched the barn door, ready to step out and confront this person. Suddenly, Zim realized something and grabbed Dib’s shoulder. 

“Wait,” he whispered. Dib looked back at him worriedly. “Zim has no disguise! Won’t the human think Zim is infected and try to attack??” 

Dib felt a twinge of fear rise up in him. That was true. After Zim lost his disguise they hadn’t been around a lot of people, save for their classmates at the school. After a moment of deciding what to do, he finally turned back to him. 

“We’ll try to explain the situation. Don’t let him know you were bitten,” he smirked a bit, “Remember what you told everyone when you first arrived? It’s a skin condition. We’ll leave it at that.” 

“Alright. If the situation grows dire, Zim will kill the intruder.”   
“We need to know his intentions first.”   
“Fine; and then Zim will decide.”   
“Fair enough.” 

Dib reached for the pistol he had in his pants pocket. Sudden memories of having to shoot Zita before she turned came flooding back. He felt choked up, but, he needed to push through. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to kill another living person again. 

Carefully and quietly, they opened the barn door and peered out into the world. The light blue morning sky was giving way to the rising sun, as stars began to dissipate further into the sky. Dib was the first to leave the barn, and Zim followed, slowly closing the barn doors behind them. They didn’t have to worry about GIR, as he was safe up in the loft. 

“Do you see him?” Zim asked, looking around the smelly landscape. He always hated coming to farms and barns. Always smelled of animals and their … business. 

“No, but, he can’t be too far--” 

“Hey, there!” 

Zim and Dib both erupted with screams of panic and searched for the voice before pointing their weapons directly at him. Dib shakily pointed the gun in the direction of the voice, and Zim prepared to unleash his spider legs at a moment’s notice. Standing before them was a man who had black slicked back hair with a cowboy hat. He wore a plaid shirt with jeans and cowboy boots to match. Around his chest was a hunting rifle, strapped to his back. His lips curved into a smile as he approached the duo.

“What’re you boys doin’ out here? Don’t you know that it’s dangerous?” 

“We could say the same thing,” Dib said, never lowering his weapon. “Why are you here?” 

The man only laughed at Dib’s exclamation. He slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Well, I live out here. My name is Ralph.This land belongs to my friend, and I decided to see how he was doin’. You wouldn’t have happened to see him would you?” 

Zim’s eyes narrowed, growling at the strange man. “He’s dead. We found the human as a zam-bee last night.” 

The man almost didn’t seemed phased by this. He looked to the ground a moment and let out a sigh. “That’s a damn shame. I was actually going to pop in and ask him if he wanted to come back to my dairy farm. We need all the able bodies we can find.” 

Dib lowered his weapon and blinked at the man. “Dairy farm? It’s nearby?” 

“That it is, kiddo. You and your group are more than welcome to come by and see what it’s like. We can give you a place to rest your head and a hot plate to eat, but, we need to be sure we’re on the same page.” 

The man walked closer, and Dib raised his weapon once again. The man only held up his hands, showing that he meant no harm. 

“Now, now, I understand you’re skeptical. I commend you for being so brave in this dangerous new world. All I wanna do is ask you boys a couple o’ questions, and then we can be on our way.” 

Zim stepped forward. “We want to ask questions too, filthy cow farmer!” 

He nodded, “Sounds good, but, first I must know-- the green child, has he been infected? I see the black sprouts on his head and the coloration of his skin-- what’s up with him?” 

Dib and Zim looked worriedly at each other, before Dib finally decided on something to say. He looked back at the strange man and explained the circumstances. 

“He hasn’t been bitten. My friend suffers from a strange skin condition. It’s not lethal to him or any of us, it’s just something he lives with.” Dib tried to explain, hoping to sound intelligent. 

“I see-- and what is this skin condition called?” 

Zim raised a hand and waved it around. “Unfortunately, the name escapes me, but Zim assures you that he isn’t infected!” 

“Zim … so that’s your name? And what about you? you have a name?” He looked over at Dib and gave him a smile. 

“It’s Dib.” 

“So, Zim and Dib? Quite the unique names y'all have. You got any more members of your group? Or are you just out here on your own?” 

“My dog is back in the barn,” Zim explained. “We have nobody else.” Suddenly, he thought about the choice he had just made. Perhaps he should have been intimidating and told him they had a large group. He gritted his teeth in anger. 

“Nobody else? Strange to see just two young boys trying to survive in a world such as this.” he nodded, placing his hands on his hips. “Well, you two seem like capable kids, that’s for sure. My wife and I would be lucky to have you at our farm, so long as you can pull your own weight. So, why dontcha head back with me and--” 

“Wait!” Dib raised his gun again, “We’re not finished here. We still have to ask you some questions.” 

The man nodded, “Of course. Well, ask away.” 

“Why are you so interested in recruiting strangers to your farm? What if we’re dangerous?” Dib asked. “What if the others you recruited are dangerous?” 

“While it’s true that lotsa people in this day and age would take advantage of the situation, I don’t think humans are bad intentionally. Given the right circumstances, all can go well. If they can hold their own, and they seem trustworthy, I take em’ in.” 

Zim asked the next question. “Is your … ‘farm’ free of the zam-bees? There’s no way for them to get in?” 

“Our farm is surrounded by an electric fence. We have a generator that we’ve been usin’ to keep it goin’ for a while now. So long as that fence is on, ya’ll are safe inside.” 

Zim glanced over at Dib, and to his dismay, it looked like the human was sold on this farm of his. Zim on the other hand? He didn’t trust this man at all. Something about him seemed incredibly off. 

“Any other questions?” The man asked. 

“Yeah,” Dib said, “How many other people are there with you?” 

“We’ve been recruitn’ since the dead started walkin’. We have about five families stayin’ with us, a couple of loners, and plenty of kids like you. Come to think of it, a boy from the city ended up makin’ his way to our farm just yesterday.” he hummed in thought for a moment before continuing. “There’s plenty of people, so, your safety is guaranteed.” 

Dib looked at the man then back at Zim who glared at him. Zim knew what he was going to choose, and he didn’t like it.

“Just a minute. I wanna talk it over with my friend.” Dib insisted. “I want to know his stand on this.” 

“Very well. Take all the time you need. I’ll be back for ya by midday if you decide.” he tipped his hat to the two and took off in the other direction, whistling as he walked. 

Once the man was out of view, Zim turned to run back to the barn, not making any effort to wait for Dib. When Dib turned back, he already saw Zim entering the barn. 

“Zim??” he called out, “What’re you doing?” He chased after him, following him into the barn. To avoid any zombies from making their way inside, he barricaded the door once again. He could hear Zim’s frantic voice attempting to wake GIR up. 

“GIR! Get up!” Zim pleaded, “GET UP!” 

Dib climbed up the ladder and found Zim collecting their things hurriedly, not noticing the human as he ascended. When he was at the top, he gave Zim a confused look. 

“What’re you doing, Zim?”  
“We’re getting out of here! I don’t trust that guy!” he scooped up all of Dib’s belongings into his backpack, as well as the blanket he had given Zim, stashing everything into it. "Grab your backpack, we're leaving!" 

“... I don’t exactly trust him either, but, his farm sounds incredibly safe. And, they have a lot of people there too. Why don’t we just go and scope it out? If it doesn’t live up to what he said, we’ll get the Hell out of dodge.” 

“Are you INSANE!?” Zim cried, marching over to Dib. “You’re supposed to be the smart one! Your big-headed brain is finally turning to mush!! What part of any of this screams “SAFE”??” 

“We could at least give it a try! I don’t know about you, but, sooner or later we’re going to run out of supplies! Not to mention we may not find any shelter soon, and winter will be here before we know it!” Dib explained. “Let’s just give it a try! They may not be as bad as you think!” 

Zim growled at Dib, narrowing his eyes into a glare. “You’re supposed to be the zam-bee genius. What happened, Dib?” he clenched his fists and shook his head, “Zim can’t do this. They can’t be trusted.” 

“Well, I think it’d be a good idea!” 

“Then you can have your good idea!” Zim scooped up GIR in his arms and turned to Dib. “Our truce is over. Zim wants no part in this.” 

Dib’s eyes widened as he looked at Zim in pure confusion. “What are you saying?? You’re leaving??” 

“You want to do things your way, fine by me. Zim won’t be killed so easily, Dib.” he turned away, heading towards the ladder. “You gave Zim that book, remember? I know how to deal with the zam-bees now.” 

“But, it’s safer in numbers!” Dib exclaimed, grabbing hold of Zim’s arm. “Come on, Zim! Don’t be like this! We can’t afford to be alone right now!” 

Zim went quiet for a moment, thinking over what Dib had said. After thinking it over, he pulled his hand away from Dib, before turning to him. His eyes were angry and his antennae were flattened. 

“Zim has made up his mind.” he assured him. “Zim is leaving. You can come with him, or you can go to the farm. Your choice, Dib.” 

Dib was ready to argue back, but in the end, he could see that Zim was set on his ways. He sighed, nodding. “Okay … if that’s what you think will be best … I can’t stop you.” 

Zim nodded in agreement. “Thank you.” he reached into his PAK and turned to Dib. In his hand he held some sort of remote. It looked very high tech. He handed it over to Dib. “This is a transmitter. It works over long distances best. If you end up in trouble, Zim will come.” 

Dib looked up at the Irken, a face of regret swarming over him. “Zim …” 

“Our truce may be over for now, Dib, but …” he shook his head, “Just don’t get yourself killed. If you ever need to get a hold of Zim, use this.” 

Zim was surprised when he felt Dib charge into him, wrapping his arms around the Irken’s shoulders. Once again he was met with a hug, but, instead of resisting, he sat there, eyes falling half lidded. He brought his hand to Dib’s back, patting it. 

“Yes, yes,” he mumbled, “don’t get emotional. Zim is certain we will meet again.” 

Dib finally parted and nodded. “Yeah, I think so too …” 

Zim finally stepped back, heading down the ladder before glancing back up at Dib who bore a sorrowful expression. Zim almost felt sorry for leaving Dib like this, but, he didn’t want to deal with strangers. Without another moment to spare he shook those feelings aside. 

“Goodbye.” Zim said, his serious expression not faltering.   
“Bye …” Dib said with a strain in his voice. 

He watched until the Irken left the barn door, closing it behind him and filling the barn with darkness once again. Dib stood there for a few seconds before finally sitting. His legs dangled off the side of the loft and he buried his face in his hands, grunting in frustration. 

“Good going, Dib,” he whispered to himself, “He was the reason you had lived up until now, and now he’s gone--” 

He flopped back onto the loft floor and sighed, staring up at the cobweb filled ceiling. What was he supposed to do now? Zim was the one who had killed most of the infected up until now-- he had practically been Dib's saving grace! When he heard birds chirping outside, it prompted him to glance out the window and up into the sky. The sun was finally beginning to rise. 

“Well, might as well get ready for Ralph when he comes back …” 

He knew Zim was in the wrong for his decision. Safety came before anything first. And yet, he felt weirdly sad having to say goodbye to his nemesis. He only hoped he’d be able to survive on his own.


	8. Safety

GIR yawned loudly as he trudged behind Zim, following closely behind him through the deserted fields. Zim took extra care to avoid any cows as they walked, so GIR wouldn’t attract any attention to themselves. GIR playfully trotted along the leaves, crinkling them under his feet as they walked. Although annoyed, Zim didn't’ make an effort to yell at him. He had more important things to worry about. Like his bite, or where they would stay for the night, or whether or not he made the right choice. He shook those thoughts out of his head as they began closing in on the woods surrounding the farm. GIR ran to Zim’s side, standing beside him, looking up at him in confusion. 

“So, where’s the Dib human?” GIR asked with a smile. “Did he go somewhere?” 

Zim was quiet for a moment and then sighed. “He decided it was best for us to go our separate ways.”

GIR gasped, covering his mouth with both paws. “Is that a good idea!? He’s the one that told us about the zam-bees, though!!” he jumped in front of Zim, erratically waving his arms in a frenzy. “Why did he leave?? Is he made at us??” 

“No! Er, maybe?” he shoved GIR out of his way, continuing along. The curious little robot caught up with him again, pestering his master for answers. Zim rolled his eyes and groaned angrily. “He wanted to go to some kind of farmy thing,” Zim waved his hand around, “I didn’t trust the human that ran it, so, we left.” 

“Shouldn’t he have come with us, though?” GIR asked, stopping in his tracks. He cocked his head as he watched Zim stop in front of him. GIR gave a big smile and turned around. “I’ll go get him~” 

“No, GIR, stop!” Zim commanded. “The human made his choice, and so did I! We’re doing what’s best. Once Dib realizes his choice was wrong, he’ll come crawling back to ZIM!” Zim felt a twinge of guilt and fear deep inside. He had a feeling something was really wrong with that farm. Why would anybody just willingly welcome strangers in? Nonetheless, he turned heel to the barn and to Dib, walking off. 

“Master, wait!” GIR chased after him, hoping to get him to change his mind. But, it didn’t matter-- Zim was set on his ways. He knew nothing would get him to change his mind. 

The two walked further through the field, getting closer towards the woods. As they walked into the brush, GIR gave one last glance back into the distance, seeing the barn that the three had spent the night in. His eyes fell half lidded; feeling bad that they had to leave Dib behind, but, he needed to listen to his master. Without another word, he followed Zim’s lead.

* * *

Dib sat in the loft, searching through everything he had in his backpack. From what he had packed before back at his house to the things he found at the school. He still had the first aid kit, plenty of food and water bottles, and several weapons he had the choice to use. He was well stocked up, and if anything, he could offer a peace offering to Ralph and his group. 

The more he thought about his decision, the more he began to think it was an idiotic move on his part. Although, if things seemed sketchy when Dib got to the farm, he convinced himself that he’d bail and find Zim as soon as possible. But, right now? Safety in numbers seemed like the better option. Ralph said they had food and people-- he only hoped that there’d be proof when he came back. 

Dib looked to the window, seeing the sun high in the sky. It was almost noon, which meant Ralph would be there anytime now. He threw his backpack over his shoulders and took his baseball bat in hand. Somehow, over the course of a few hours, he had convinced himself that he was incredibly brave-- and strong, both physically and mentally. He couldn’t be a pushover during this. He had to prove to Ralph and his people that he could be an asset. Then, once things seemed all clear and safe, he’d use the transmitter to call Zim. Either way, he had somehow convinced himself he’d see Zim again. Without any other thoughts, he climbed down from the loft and out into the world. 

\---

Dib opened the barn doors, flinching when the bright, warm sun hit him. For late October, it was surprisingly warm-- warmer than he thought it was going to be. Birds were chirping, and there was a warm breeze-- seemed a lot more like summer than fall. There were no dead in sight, and for once, everything felt peaceful for a moment. Spending the night in a barn that smelled like manure and animals really makes you take for granted what fresh air felt like. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. So loud in fact, that he hadn’t noticed the group of people approaching him. When he snapped back into reality, he looked over and eyes widened when he saw a group of four people approaching him. In front of the pack was Ralph-- seeming just as jolly as ever. 

Behind him were two men and a woman. The woman stood beside one of the men, as they talked amongst one another. The woman had brown, bobbed hair and wore a vest with a sweater underneath. The man beside her had shaggy black hair with a matching beard. He held a rifle in his hands and had on a rather cozy looking sweater with jeans. Those two looked nice. But, the one that was throwing off Dib the most was the man to Ralph’s left. He was a lanky man with ginger hair, whose eyes darted nervously across the landscape, back to Dib, and back out into the landscape. On his person, he held a machete. If anything, he definitely had a smart weapon choice. 

“Well, hey there, Dib,” Ralph said, giving a big jovial smile and a wave. “Have ya’ decided what you’re going to do? Where’s your little green friend? I was just tellin’ everyone back at the ranch how he was the strangest little thing I ever saw.” 

“He’s uh … not here anymore,” Dib scratched the back of his head. “He went off on his own.” 

“Hmm,” Ralph hummed, a rather displeased look crossing his face. “That’s a darn shame. Well, either way, you’re more than welcome to come on back to the farm with us. You can help yourself to a hot shower and get acquainted with everyone there.” 

Dib’s eyes widened and a small smile curved into his lips. “ … A hot shower …?” he parroted back quietly. All at once his urge to go with them skyrocketed. Hot water! This place sounded too good to be true! 

Ralph let loose a laugh and nodded in delight. “We got a nice big hot water tank and a propane tank on our farm. Need gas to run it, so, we’ve been having people run into the city to siphon the cars there. Shit ain’t cheap.” 

Dib nodded, “You don’t have to tell me twice.” He looked between the group, then back to the barn, wondering what he should do. 

The ginger looked to Ralph with a worried glance. “We should get back. Being out in the open is dangerous.” 

Ralph nodded, “Good eyes. Dib, what’ll it be? We’re burning daylight.” 

Dib looked back to his new acquaintances and paused for a moment, wondering what he should do. He wasn’t lying about having people on his ranch-- he could see that by everyone that stood in front of him. Noticing the growing worry in the man next to Ralph, Dib reluctantly nodded. 

“I’ll come.” he insisted. “But, I think I’ll only be staying for the night-- or just for the day. We’ll see.” 

Ralph nodded. “Fair enough, my boy. Whatever you believe to be right. Maybe if my scouts find your little green friend out there, they can convince him to come back with them.” 

Dib rolled his eyes, “Yeah, good luck with that-- he’s set on his way.” 

Dib joined the group, clutching his bat in case of an emergency-- whether said emergency was dealing with the dead or not. Everyone around him held a weapon, and they seemed like they knew how to use said weapons. It was good to know that they seemed well versed in the world already. Whereas with Zim, it was a learning curve if anything. With these people? They knew what they were doing. These people had a fighting chance. 

“I think it’s time we introduced you proper to these fine people, Dib,” Ralph brought a hand to the ginger beside him. The boy jolted at the sudden movement. “This jittery thing is Devon. He may seem nervous, but he’s a damn good shot.” 

Devon glanced down at Dib, narrowing his eyes. Dib simply waved back, but Devon paid no mind and turned away from him. That was weird, Dib thought, but just like everything else, he shrugged it off like nothing. 

“And these two lovebirds are Adam and Mady. They stumbled upon our farm a couple days ago.” Ralph said, introducing the woman and the other man. 

The woman seemed much kinder than the ginger and gave Dib a smile. The man also glanced back nodding to the boy. 

“Hey there-- Dib, right?” the woman said in a gentle tone, “It’s nice to meet you. This dork here is my husband.” 

The man called Adam nodded beside her. “Didn’t think there were any kids left around anymore. Surprised to see you made it all on your own-- you and your friend. You’ve got guts, kid.” 

Dib placed a hand to his chest, clearing his throat. “Actually, before the apocalypse, I was a paranormal investigator! And Zombies were just one of the many things I studied! I’m kind of an expert, I’d say~” 

Ralph chuckled, enjoying the boy’s enthusiasm. “Is that so? Then I’d like to think we could use an expert such as you on the ranch. You’ll have to tell us all you know, Mr. Paranormal Investigator.” 

Dib caught wind of a scoff coming from Devon. He was quick to turn and raise a brow at him, wondering if he had done something to make him mad. Somehow, only a single person was managing to throw him off. Or, perhaps he was in the same position Dib was in. Did this Devon character just not trust Ralph yet? Was there something more to it? Either way, he was sure he’d find out soon. 

After about a half an hour of walking and chatting with the friendlier characters in Ralph’s group, Dib noticed a big open plain coming into view. Numerous cows lined the fences, which made satisfying zapping noises. This must be Ralph’s ranch, and they seemed to be closing in fast. Within a few moments, a large farmhouse as well as two decent sized barns came into view. Dib’s eyes widened as he took in the view of the landscape, staring in absolute wonder. 

Ralph glanced down at Dib, giving him a smile. “Ya like it?” 

“It’s amazing!” Dib exclaimed, throwing his arms out. “This place is huge! There’s fences and cattle everywhere! It’s untouched!” 

“Indeed it is, my boy,” Ralph chuckled, “That’s why we continuously need to find gas-- to sustain these generators to keep the fences powered. Keeps the dead and the living out. You’ll be safe here.” 

A smile grew on Dib’s face the closer they got to the farmhouse. The sheer size of the ranch was incredible. The amount of cows they had was also amazing. They had enough meat to last them an eternity, so long as nothing happened to the cattle. 

“But, it’s so big … how do you keep it under control?” Dib glanced up at Ralph, only for Mady to answer for him. 

“Ralph and his family send us out on scouting parties around the property. We clear the fences of the dead and make sure everything is safe.” she assured. “We also go out and do some hunting. Lots of deer around here.” 

Adam nodded in agreement, “There are a lot of cows, but, Ralph insists on hunting the game around here. Which is understandable. You don’t want to kill off the cattle unless you absolutely need to.” 

“Smart man,” Ralph gave Adam a pat on the back, “I’ve taught you well.” 

The ragtag group of survivors approached the gate leading into the property. Ralph opened it and welcomed everyone into the safety of their fenced in land. Dib was still taking in sights when Ralph approached him. He looked up at the bukly man with widened eyes.  
“Why don’tcha follow Mady and Adam? They can hook you up with a place to rest your head-- and they can show you the showers, so long as nobody’s using em’” 

Dib nodded and gave Ralph a smile. “Thank you, sir. You’ve been a really big help to me! I just wish my friend could’ve seen this. He was so convinced it wouldn’t be safe--” 

Ralph brought a hand to Dib’s head, ruffling his baseball hat and hair. “Aw, no need to thank me, kiddo. And don’t worry about your friend-- we’ll send a scouting part out in the morning to find him.” 

Dib knew there was no way Zim would come with them, but, perhaps it was worth a shot? Dib could even offer to go himself with the group and search for him. There’s no chance of him getting far on foot in just one night. With his PAK malfunctioning, and his bite, there’s no doubt he’ll be tired. He just hoped he’d pull through. 

“Now, run along! My boy should be in the warehouse helping the other survivors. There’s also another kid around your age. Would be nice to be around some kids your age, right?” 

“Yeah,” Dib turned away from Ralph and headed off to follow Mady and Adam, “Thanks again, Ralph!”

* * *

Dib followed the other three down a path which ran in between the two cattle barns. From afar, they didn’t look so big, but up in person, they were huge! Dib assumed it was to account for every cow they had. Seeing everything up close was so astonishing. 

“It’s nice here, isn’t it Dib?” Adam asked, glancing back at the boy. He couldn’t get enough of his amazed gestures. 

“Nice? It’s better than I expected!” Dib exclaimed happily. “I was worried it would be a facade, but, it really seems nice!” 

“To be fair, we thought the same thing,” Adam explained, sighing. “When Mady and I first stumbled upon Ralph and his family, we thought something was up as well. They were being far too friendly towards strangers. But, they’ve been showing us plenty of hospitality, and we couldn’t thank them enough.” 

“We needed to be wary, especially when I’m carrying for two …” Mady gently placed her hand on her belly, rubbing it soothingly. Dib hadn’t realized at first glance, but, Mady did look heavily pregnant. A small smile crossed his face, realizing there was still a chance at reclaiming the world. 

Adam nodded in agreement, “It’ a good thing we found Ralph’s place when we did. We’re hoping to ride out the winter here so that she can give birth someplace safe. And, according to Ralph, his wife worked in a pharmacy when she was younger! We couldn’t be any luckier!” 

“Yeah, good for you two!’ Dib exclaimed, “I’m sure everything will go--” 

He was cut off by Devon who scoffed at the three of them. Dib glared at the ginger, honestly beginning to wonder what his problem was. It seemed that Mady and Adam were beginning to have enough with his attitude as well. Adam turned his head to Devon and rose a brow at the man. 

“What is it with you? You always seem to be so negative! What’s wong?” he asked sternly.

Devon only glared back for a moment. It took a moment for im to begin speaking. “You’re all fucking stupid if you think this place will last. Eventually, it’ll all come crumbling down. Your baby? It won’t survive. Yourselves? Not gonna happen. It’ll all collapse eventually.” 

Adam stopped in his tracks and fully turned to the ginger staring him down. “You take that back. And you fucking apologize to my wife--” 

Dib bit his lip, wondering what he could even do in this situation. In the end, he decided to sneak off and head further down the path that they were headed. Rather than get caught up in their squabbles, he’d figure the place out for himself. After a bit of walking, he found the building that he believed to be the warehouse. This had to be what Ralph was talking about! 

The warehouse was a big white building with a blue roof-- it actually stood out quite a bit from the rest of the ranch. On the sides and towards the front doors were big windows, allowing Dib to see inside of the building. He was surprised when he saw quite a large amount of families and people hunkering down inside! It turned out that Zim was completely wrong about this place! 

Dib’s ears twitched when he heard voices coming from behind him. Adam and Mady angrily approached Dib, leaving Devon following behind them, scowl and all. He figured that perhaps they had figured out their differences, albeit they all still did look rather angry with one another. 

Mady approached Dib and forced herself to smile at Dib. “Well, this is where we’re staying Dib! Ralph was nice enough to let us all stay put in this warehouse of his! We don’t have beds, but, it’s a safe place to sleep!” 

Adam nodded, “And there’s showers in the back! Let me tell you, I thought it was all a lie, but, it felt like heaven when I was actually there.” 

Dib could already feel the hot water hitting his head. He could barely wait! Just then, Devon pushed past the bunch, forcing his way into the warehouse and slamming the door behind him. Dib sneered as he shoved past and then looked back up at the adults. 

“So, what happened after I left? Did Devon apologize?” Dib asked. 

“Eh, it’s best not to worry about him, Dib. Nevermind him-- let’s get you settled in!” 

Adam held the door open and Dib walked in, seeing everyone turn to him briefly before turning back to their own conversations. There had to be at least 10 other people in the warehouse! Ralph truly wasn’t kidding! Honestly, Dib was more excited to gloat in Zim’s face about this than anything else at the moment. 

“Wow, it’s barely been a week and already Ralph has recruited so many people.” 

“You got that right,” Mady said, putting her hands on her hips. “Some of these people were friends or relatives, but there’s others like Adam, Devon and I that were complete strangers. Over the days, we’ve all gotten pretty close.” 

Dib looked the place over again as they walked down the center, trying to locate a free place for Dib to set down his things. As he glanced over the tops of people’s heads, he finally found someone that was sticking out like a sore thumb. This person was a kid and had red curly hair and was talking to another kid that seemed around his age. All at once, Dib recognized the kid and his eyes widened. 

“Keef?” he asked quietly. He raised his voice a little louder to get his attention. “Keef!” 

The kid turned and a big smile appeared on the boy’s head as he stood up and quite literally charged at Dib. Dib braced for impact and was slammed full force by Keef, receiving a quite painfully tight hug from the boy. 

“Dib!” Keef cried out, not letting go of him. “You’re actually alive!?” 

“I could say the same! How did you get out of the school!?” he asked, absolutely astonished. “It was swarmed with zombies!” 

Keef finally parted the hug and shook his head. “I ran for the front doors and took down the barricades as quick as I could. When you and Zim told us to run, I RAN!” Keef glanced around past Dib, searching around him. “Speaking of which, where is Zim? Did … did he make it out alive …?” 

Dib nodded, “He’s alive, but … he didn’t want to come with me here …” he shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets. “He’s out in the woods somewhere, but, I’m hoping we can find him soon.” 

“Oh, so you two already know each other?” Adam asked. “That’s great! Keef, could you show Dib around for us? You can also introduce him to Zach. Mady and I need to talk to Ralph about tomorrow’s scouting mission.” 

“That’s a great idea!” Keef exclaimed, grabbing Dib’s hand and tugging him along. “Come on, Dib, I can show ya around!” 

Before Dib could even protest, he was already being dragged away by Keef. While it was nice to see that he was safe, it wasn't so nice to see Keef’s mannerisms and annoyance again. As much as he wanted to go with Adam and Mady and possibly join in the scouting mission tomorrow, it seemed Keef had other plans. Then, he remembered what Adam had said before he was tugged away, 

“Zach? Whose that? I’m meeting all these new people and it’s so hard to remember them all,” Dib groaned, rolling his eyes. He just wanted to shower and relax. He rarely got to do that anymore. Especially shower. Even before the outbreak, he couldn’t remember the last time he showered. He internally cringed thinking about it. 

“Zach is Ralph’s son! He’s around our age! He didn’t go to our school though-- I guess the ranch is too far away from our school district. But, he seems really cool~” Keef insisted. “Come on, he’s this way!’ 

Dragged against his will, Dib followed, wondering what this ‘Zach’ kid would be like. Keef insisted he was nice, but, anything that came out of Keef’s mouth was always worrisome. They walked through several groups of people, all glancing at Dib and Keef as they passed, until they eventually came to several blankets and a pillow sprawled out on the ground. A boy sat there, cleaning the space and making everything look neat and tidy. When the boy noticed Dib and Keef making their way towards him, he smiled, giving them a wave. 

“Hey, Zach! This is my friend, Dib! You know, the one I told you about from the school!” 

Dib shot a look at Keef. Friends? More like acquaintances-- or allies. When Zach looked Dib’s way he gave the boy a wave. He was definitely Ralph’s son-- looked like him in every way. Almost looked like a smaller mirrored copy of him. The boy stood up and gave them a small smile, seeming a little nervous. 

“Hi there …” he shuffled on his feet, “Keef did tell me about you. There’s been so many people coming to mine and pop’s farm that I can’t really remember them all~” 

Dib nodded, “I completely agree! It’s kind of overwhelming!”

The three stood there in silence for a moment, staring at the ground, and glancing around, trying to figure out where to bring the conversation. If they were to move onto the topic of zombies or cryptids, Dib could keep talking for hours. However, just small talk was definitely not his strong suit. 

“So, uh, your dad really has a nice setup here. Do you know why he’s taking in so many people?” Dib asked, his expression growing serious. Keef nodded in agreement. Dib only guessed he was just as concerned about it too. “After all, having so many mouths to feed must be tough for your family.” 

Zach shook his head. “Nah, pop’s got everything under control. He told me that in exchange for a hot meal and a place to sleep, we need people’s services-- whatever they are. I don’t really get it, but, I’m just glad there’s other kids around to hang out with!” 

Keef nodded and gleefully took Zach’s hands in his, “I agree! After I left the school, I was worried I’d never see another kid again! This is so exciting!” 

“Hey, uh, not to interrupt or anything, but,” Dib rubbed the back of his head, shyly, “Adam and Mady said that there were showers …? I was kinda wondering …” 

“Oh. Yeah, of course!” Zach urged Dib to follow him while Keef stayed behind. “I’ll show you the showers while Keef can get a place to sleep ready for you.” 

“Sounds good! Dib, you can sleep right next to me~” Dib cringed at what he heard. Wonderful. 

Zach led Dib into a room further into the back of the warehouse. Inside were three moderately sized shower stalls with sinks and toilet stalls accompanying them. As amazed as Dib was, he was beginning to wonder why a farmhand would have a large warehouse with bathrooms. 

“Hey, Zach? Mind if I ask why your father has such a large warehouse with all these things attached? What’s a farmer need it for anyways?”

“My pop usually had busloads of college kids coming to our ranch to learn and study what he knew. They would usually be here for weeks at a time, so, he had this made for them to accompany their needs. A place to rest and such. You’re not the first person to ask that either-- that lanky, ginger kid asked too.” 

So, Dib was right after all. Devon did have the same suspicions that he did. Perhaps it’d be worth it to get to know him more during all this. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Zach left his side. He watched as the boy headed back towards the main hub of the warehouse. 

“We don’t have towels, so you’ll just have to drip-dry once you’re done,” Zach gave him another smile. “It was nice to meet you, Dib!” As he closed the door he waved goodbye to Dib, leaving him standing in the bathing room alone. 

Dib set his backpack towards one of the drier walls in the room, hoping that it wouldn’t get yet. Fearing someone would come in as he was changing, he waited until he was in the stall to undress. He draped his hoodie and other clothing over the stall door, knowing they’d be dry there. Once ready, he looked at the basic knobs on the wall, attempting to figure out which was the hot and which was the cold. After fiddling with them for a moment, the water sprayed from the showerhead, hitting the top of Dib’s head and running down his body. 

He tilted his head backwards so that his face was facing the pouring water and sighed as the warm water drenched him. To Dib, who hadn’t showered in lord knows how long, this felt absolutely amazing. A smile crept across his face as he began laughing at how great it was. Finally, he didn’t have to feel gross anymore. Granted, his clothes were still sweat drenched and hadn’t been washed, but, perhaps he could find a way around that. 

Dib hadn’t realized how long he was in there until he felt the water going cold. That was probably a bad thing to have let happened, so he rushed and hurried to wash himself before anybody noticed how long he was taking. When he was finished, he waited a bit to dry off, and then proceeded to redress in his old clothes before making his way back out to the sleeping area. 

Dib spent the rest of the day getting to know everyone else. They all seemed like such nice folk, and was beginning to really enjoy his stay there. He had even talked with Adam and Mady about letting him join the scouting part tomorrow, to which Ralph said he’d decide on overnight. Before the sun set, Ralph and his son came through the warehouse with three big pots of homemade stew for everyone! Dib hadn’t tasted anything so good in forever. Once everyone was done eating, Ralph and Zach took back to their farmhouse for the night and let everyone get some shut-eye.

Things were beginning to look up! Although, Zim was still out there somewhere, and Dib needed to make sure he was alright. Once everyone was asleep, he’d use the transmitter to try and call Zim.

\---

It wasn’t even very late when everyone had fallen asleep, and Dib couldn't be any more thankful. After Keef had fallen asleep, he slipped out of the warehouse quietly and carefully as to not alert or wake anybody up. Once he was sure he was alone and that no one else could hear him, he pulled out the transmitter and looked it over. 

There was a screen at the top with buttons and a touchpad at the middle and bottom of the device. On the back had the titular Irken symbol that was usually on all of Zim’s devices. He found a knob on the side which he assumed had to be some form of switch. He was happy to know that he was right when the screen came on. The screen glowed with Irken text, but much to Dib’s dismay, he couldn’t read any of it. 

“Ugh, how am I supposed to contact Zim if he never told me how to use this thing?” he groaned and slumped against the wall, come to a sitting position on the ground. After studying the device further, her finally located another button which emitted a sharp beeping noise from it. It dissipated in an instant and there was static. He pressed it again-- silence. When he released his finger there was static again. 

He raised a brow at the device. “Is this thing like a walkie-talkie?” He held down the button and talked to the device, hoping it’d somehow transmit over to Zim. 

“Zim? Zim are you there?” he let go of the button and there was only silence. He was growing frustrated with this alien technology, but pressed further. He had to let Zim know he was alright. 

“Zim, I’m at the ranch and I’m fine. Everything’s going well. I gotta admit, I thought everything would be bad too, but, everyone’s so much nicer than we thought …” he went quiet, taking his finger off the button. Still no response. Was he even doing it right? “Hows your bite doing? Do you think you’re still infected? I’m really … ugh, I’m really _worried_ about you …” 

“I met some really friendly people named Alex and Mady. They’re both really good at wielding their weapons. There’s also a guy named Devon who … kinda makes me uneasy, but, he’s a good shot so I’ll give him that …” he sighed. “You were wrong Zim. This place is great. They have food, tons of people, and it’s protected. You really need to hurry and come here. We can figure everything out once you’re here.” 

He removed his finger again, and this time waited for a long time-- for any kind of response. All that remained was static. Dib sighed and looked up at the sky, wondering if he was even still alive anymore. No matter, he’d join Mady and Adam tomorrow and go on a search party for him. 

Zim had to see how safe this place was. He’d get him to see it one way or another. He just had to.

“You’d be helping yourself if you come here, Zim,” he said once more into the device, “Please, consider it. Hopefully you’ll find me tomorrow …” he went quiet before speaking in a quieter tone. “Goodnight, Zim …” 

He waited once again for any kind of response. Only static. It was useless to wait any further, and with worries in his head, Dib headed back inside the warehouse to get some much deserved sleep.

* * *

Zim found himself sitting on the limb of a tree, trying to get comfortable. GIR had already made himself quite comfy, as he had already fallen asleep. Zim had heard plenty of infected beneath him throughout the night, and he wasn’t about to sleep on the ground. It was either up there, or nothing. They were too far away from the barn to head back-- not that he wanted to with that Ralph guy lurking around. 

Zim was just about to doze off when he heard a static noise coming from his PAK. Feeling the vibrations from within the PAK made him jolt awake as he fetched the transmitter hidden within it. He stared at it as it made more static noises. It was enough to wake up GIR as well. 

“Wha- …” GIR yawned, “What’s goin’ on master?” 

Zim didn’t reply and only stared intently at the transmitter. Was it Dib? Was it malfunctioning just like his PAK? Through the static, he was finally able to make something out. 

**“Zzzzzz-iiiiiii-mmmm”** the device spoke above the static. Zim shot awake at the realization. His eyes widening and a big smile crossing his face. 

“DIB!! IT’S THE DIB--” Zim had lost his footing and fell from the tree branch with a scream, landing in the brush below. GIR glanced down, wondering if Zim was okay. He was relieved when he saw his green head pop out of the bushes below. 

“That’s not Dib!” GIR replied in a sing-songy voice. “It’s a TV remote!” He jumped down to be at the same level as Zim, listening to what his master was saying. 

“Shut up, GIR!!” Zim commanded. “Zim needs to LISTEN!” 

It was no doubt that it was Dib on the other side, but he could barely hear him through the static. He fiddled with numerous knobs and buttons, hoping to figure something out. Zim needed to make it clearer. When he got it as clear as he could, he listened intently. 

**“Ranch ... bad …”** the device echoed, **“People … wielding weapons … infected … hurry … come here …”**

Zim’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach when the words were made clearer. His eyes widened and his hands began shaking as he held the device closer to hear even more. GIR watched intently as the sounds vibrated from the device. 

**“Help … Zim … please … tomorrow …”** the static ended, and so did the words-- leaving Zim and GIR absolutely distraught. The device fell from Zim’s hands as he stared at the ground in shock. 

“I … I …” Zim looked as if he were about to cry. GIR looked up at him with a concerned look, taking the Irken’s hand in his paw. 

“Master …? Is the Dib human okay …?” 

“I …” finally, Zim’s entire demeanor changed as he stuck a victory pose, launching GIR away. Zim begin laughing maniacally. “ZIM KNEW IT!! ZIM KNEW IT WAS ALL A FACADE!! DIB WAS WROOOOONG!!!” 

GIR joined in the evil-ish laughing, as Zim finally earned gloating rights against Dib. Finally, he was right and Dib was wrong! However, his evil ambitions were cut short when he realized Dib’s words in full context. There was no time to gloat right now. 

“Dib is in trouble, GIR,” A serious demeanor coming back to Zim. “We need to go after him!” 

“But, isn’t that Ralph guy bad?” 

“Yes, yes he is! But, Zim can’t let the Dib die at the hands of RALPH! He is ZIM’S NEMESIS! Dib dies at the hands of ZIM, ONLY!” 

Zim’s antennae twitched as he heard distant growls and groans approaching them. With a new mission, Zim grabbed GIR and ran off into the woods, beginning to retrace his steps. Once Dib was safe, then he could continue his gloating. 

But, for now? He needed to be sure Dib was safe and sound.


	9. Reunited

Dib was awoken by the sound of talking and people going about their business. When he finally blinked awake, sitting beside him was Keef, who gently rocked him awake. The light poured in through the windows on the warehouse walls, lighting up the large, one roomed building. Once Dib was fully conscious, Keef gave him a big smile. 

“Hiya, Dib! G’morning!” he said happily as he sat back. Dib sat up, grabbing his glasses that sat nearby, adjusting them above his nose. “You got up just in time! Ralph and his family made everyone oatmeal!” 

Dib glanced over at Keef and yawned loudly. “Oatmeal? Why would they waste something as valuable as oatmeal on us?” Dib was sure they were plentiful on crops and meat, but, unless it was made from scratch, there was only a surplus of other food available to them. Why would they waste it on strangers?

Keef simply shrugged-- his smile never fading. “I dunno. But, oatmeal sounds really good right about now!” 

At that exact moment, the warehouse doors swung open, revealing Ralph and Zach holding a large pot and several bowls. Ralph bore a big, toothy grin and Zach simply smiled back humbly. Dib watched as everyone’s faces in the warehouse lightened up at the sight of food and friendly company. He was truly beginning to think Ralph and his family were just nice people looking for other people to rely on. It didn’t sound all that farfetched. 

“Good mornin’ everyone!! Hope you all got empty bellies!” he raised up the scalding pot of oatmeal, only to be met with cheers and applause. Dib would be lying if he didn’t say he wasn’t clapping as well in that instant. As soon as he smelled breakfast, his stomach was already growling. 

Zach and Ralph split up the work, each approaching different groups of people to give them a well deserved meal. Eventually, Zach found his way to his friends, giving them each a big smile as he handed them bowls. 

“Hey, fellas,” he dug the ladle into oatmeal and served it promptly to his friends. “Didja get enough sleep? You don’t have to worry about those monsters getting in. The fence is secure!” 

“You mean the zombies? I dunno … I’m not convinced just yet …” Dib looked to the side and saw Keef already digging in. His eyes delighted with happiness and bliss. “How do you know things won’t take a turn for the worst?” 

Once they had their bowls, Zach sat down and looked at Dib, looking to his eyes. “Thats why we send out paties to search for gas. Don’t worry; my father has everything under control.” He paused for a moment before finding the right words to continue the conversation. “You’re going out on a scouting party with Adam and Madison today, right? To find your friend? You’ll need your strength. Please! Eat up!” 

Dib glanced down at the warm bowl sitting in his lap. While he wasn’t ever very fond of oatmeal, he couldn’t deny that the wonderful smelling steam was making his mouth water. Without arguing back to Zach, he finally took a bite, hoping to see why Keef was so happy as he was eating. All at once he was able to figure out why. A hint of sugar and milk, probably from the cows, was something he picked up on as he bit into it. With those ingredients thrown into the mix-- making it a creamy, mouthwatering meal. Dib took a moment to enjoy the bite before smiling back at Zach. 

“This is awesome, Zach! You and your dad made this from scratch?” he took another spoonful, and with a full mouth babbled back at him. “I’m impressed!” 

“Oh it’s nothing!” he insisted, “It’s my mother’s old family recipe! You just take regular oatmeal and add plenty of things to make it sweet and delicious!” 

Dib went quiet, a small smile covering his face. “I wonder if Zim could eat this …” 

Simultaneously, both Keef and Zach replied to Dib’s statement with a ‘huh’, but Dib only shrugged it off as nothing. He wondered that, but only if he could convince Zim to come there. If he had successfully gotten his message, then perhaps he was already on his way to the farm. Or … perhaps he was long gone by now. At that point, Dib wasn’t sure what to think anymore. 

Zach stood up, picking up the pot full of oatmeal and bowls with him. Dib looked up at him curiously as Keef just continued on with his meal, not even batting an eye. 

“Well, I should probably deliver this stuff to the rest of the people. Good luck finding your friend today, Dib! He’s more than welcome here!” 

“Thanks Zach!” Dib gave him a big smile, “I really appreciate it!” 

With that, he took off to go help the others, leaving Dib and Keef to themselves. Dib kept his eyes on the boy until he was at the other group, all kinds of thoughts rushing through his head. He took another big spoonful, finishing it before turning to Keef. 

“I still can’t get over how nice he and his family are … I wasn’t expecting it.” Dib explained to Keef. Keef simply nodded with a muffled ‘mhmm’ as he continued to eat. “I was expecting cannibals, honestly, or something worse. We gotta be sure not to mess this up. I gotta be sure Zim doesn’t mess this up …” 

Keef wiped his mouth with his sleeve and gave a rather loud and obnoxious sigh as he finished his bowl. “I’m sure he won’t. Once Zim sees what it’s like, I’m sure he’ll love it~! He loves everything~!” 

Dib couldn’t help but chuckle at such an outrageous answer. He didn’t love anything-- let alone something or someone he didn’t trust. It was going to take a lot of persuasion to get the Irken to come even a step close to this place. 

With that being said, Keef stood up and stretched all while giving an obnoxious groan. “Well, I think I’m gonna hit the showers before anybody beats me to em! Haven’t showered since the beginning! I’m beginning to stink~” 

“Uh, yeah, you go do that,” Dib replied, not really interested, “I’d better get ready to head out with Mady and Adam anyways.” 

“Alright, then! I’ll see ya later, Dib! Hey! Bring back Zim if ya’ can! I’d love to see him again!” he cheered happily before running off to the back of the building. Dib smirked as he ran off, turning back to his bowl. It was nice to have a familiar face around … no matter how strange and annoying he was. 

Before he could even make any headway on his meal, he heard the familiar, deep voice of Adam calling out to him. “Hey, Dib, you finished yet?” 

Dib turned to see Adam, his wife, and Devon of all people approaching him. He wiped the oatmeal from his face and nodded. “I’ll be done in a second. Are we ready to head out?” 

“Mady and I need to make some last minute preparations,” Adam pointed back at Devon and rolled his eyes. “This asshole insisted that he came along too. He was interested in what Ralph said about your friend, I guess.” 

Devon shrugged, digging his hands into his coat pockets. “I want to see what he looks like …” 

Dib’s eyes narrowed at the redhead worriedly. “What did Ralph tell you about him? If it was anything about him looking strange, it’s nothing to worry about. He’s not …” Dib hesitated-- what should he even say in this situation? He’s not infected? He’s not an alien? No matter what he said, he would be lying. 

Adam chuckled and waved nonchalantly at Dib. “No need to worry, kiddo. He only told us he was a kid like you, and that his skin seemed a little green. But, Mady and I believe you. Not really clear on this dickhead’s intentions, but, we’ll keep an eye on him.” 

Dib nodded and turned to his backpack. He sorted through the things he could keep at the farm and things he should take with him. Of course he’d take his bat, that much was common sense. His gun as well, never know when it might come in handy. When he heard Devon tapping his foot on the cement, he groaned angirly. Was he purposefully trying to get on his bad side? Did Devon just hate everyone he came into contact with? Either way, Dib had sorted through his things, throwing it over his shoulder, before turning back to his new travelling companions. 

“Alright, looks like we’re all set to go,” Mady said happily, “Don’t worry, Dib, we’ll find your friend! I’m sure he couldn’t have gotten far!” 

Dib nodded, “We can only hope.” his immediate thoughts went to Zim’s bite-- was it finally affecting him? Or was he immune just like he had thought? Were he and GIR alright-- or even alive for that matter? Zim hadn’t the slightest clue about a zombie infestation. Did he know how to survive? 

“That’s your weapon?” Devon asked, pointing his machete at the bat in his hand. 

Dib turned away from his machete, holding his bat firmly in his hand, “Yeah? What about it?” 

Devon shrugged, “It’s a smart choice is all. No need to be so hostile, kid.” 

The redheaded boy turned away from the group, heading for the main entrance to the building. Dib only raised a brow at him. Was he beginning to change? Beginning to act more nicely towards him? Right now it was way too early to tell though. He then felt a nudge against his shoulder from Adam. 

“Hey, when we get back, I can turn that bat into something nice for you. How does that sound, kiddo?” Using his hand, he gently tapped the stained bat’s tip with his gloved hand. “Wrap some barbed wire around this baby, and no one will fuck with you.” 

A smile grew on Dib’s face at the sound of that. Improving your weapons and their durability definitely would help when fighting off zombies. With barbed wire, he could really do some damage then. Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard a clearly disgruntled Devon calling to them from the front of the building. Adam simply cursed back at him, and urged the rest of the tiny group to follow him. 

Dib looked at the front of the door with a determined expression. Through the glass at the top of the door, he could see out into the green pastures and into the changing trees past that. Somewhere out there in the wilderness was where Zim and GIR was. He only hoped they were still alive, or hadn’t wandered off too far. When he found him, he’d be sure to scream at him about sticking together. He followed Ralph and co. into the daylight, heading out on their expedition.

* * *

“Dad, I finished serving breakfast!” Zach called out, as he reached the farmhouse. He closed the door behind him, welcomed by the sweet smell of candles in their home. Their home was always welcoming, and it felt even more so once the dead started walking. Zach set the near empty pot on the dining room table before calling out again. 

“Dad! Are you in here?” he began to think that maybe he was out tending to the crops or checking on the cattle. Maybe fixing the fence? If that was the case, he was really quick to serving everyone their food. 

He walked through the hallway, hearing the old wood creak beneath his feet. It was something he had gotten used to over the years, but, now that zombies were creeping around, every sound the floorboards made unsettled him. Numerous times he called out his father’s name, but, he never heard him call back. He had checked the entire house, and his father was nowhere to be seen. That was strange, but, perhaps he really was out in the fields. 

Suddenly, an idea came to the child’s mind. The storm cellar! As far as Zach knew, there were plenty of tools and things down there his father usually busied himself with. He ran back outside, closing the door before heading around back and spotting the red metal doors to the underground. However, this time, something was different. There was a giant padlock on the doors. He crouched down next to it as he began to fiddle with the lock. It looked like he needed a key, but, why was it locked? 

“Zach, why don’t you come help me in the fields?” 

Zach quickly turned towards the voice, noticing his father smiling at him a couple feet away. Zach blinked for a moment, and then turned his attention back to the locked cellar door. 

“How come the storm cellar’s all locked up?” he asked, continuing to mess with it. 

“We’re welcoming strangers onto our farm, Zachary.” he walked towards his son and knelt down next to him, “I do trust these folks, but, some things ya’ just can’t trust em with. Our spare food, supplies, and all our extra farmin’ equipment is down there. You know that. We gotta keep it locked up and keep any curious eyes outa there. Ya’ understand?” 

“Uh, yeah, I suppose.” Zach finally stood up and followed alongside his father, “But, I didn’t know we kept our extra food down there. Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep it in the house?” 

“Zach, my boy, the house can be easily broken into. If someone came into our house, they could steal everything we have. That padlock secures the cellar.” he gave his son a scoot on the back, shoving him towards the fields, “Now, why don’tcha head out and see how the cattle are doin’? I’ll need you to get a headstart on milkin’. I’ll be by shortly to help you.” 

Without any hesitations, Zach obeyed his father and took off towards the barn where the milking equipment was held. Once Zach was out of earshot and eyesight, Ralph turned back towards the storm cellar, pulling a key from his back pocket. With no one around, he unlocked the padlock and swung open the cellar doors, before quickly closing them behind him. 

Upon emerging the dank, dark cellar, he pulled out a flashlight and entered the underground. It was musty and cold, and the basement smelled of sawdust and … something more. The smell of death circulated in the air, the kind that the undead gave off. He walked in the darkness for some time until he found a large caged fence before him. The groans of the dead came from the other side. This cage was something he had used for storing expensive equipment, and expensive materials. He raised up his flashlight, a slight smile overcoming his face. 

“Hello, mah darlin’ …” Ralph spoke in a murmur, although it still managed to echo out through the cellar, “I hope you’re doin’ well.” 

The flashlight shone on the face of a woman. She bore brown hair, tied back into a braid, followed by a pink flannel. A visible bite mark was on her shoulder, blood trailing down her arm and seeping into her shirt. All at once, the light intrigued the attention of the other undead, bringing them towards the caged wall. They tried grabbing at Ralph, but, he was out of their reach. 

“My friends, can’tcha you see I’m tryin’ to have a conversation with mah wife?” he shook his head and gave a gentle chuckle, “I can’t tell Zach about any of you yet, and you most of all, mah love. He thinks you’re still missin’, and, until I can show him this, that’s what I’ll play it off as.” 

His wife groaned and snapped her teeth at him, attempting to grab at Ralph through the barred fence. Her slender arm, barely missing his face. He chuckled again and nodded. “Now, I know you’re mad, honey, but, he wouldn't understand. I just need to keep this up a little while longer.” 

He turned away from the people he had known and walked over to a nearby workbench, seuring what he needed. The groans from the undead instructed him to talk to them further. 

“Soon, the government will come through with an antidote. I ain’t killin ya.” a frown overcame his face, “There’s a new boy, an’ his name is Dib. He killed Richardson in cold blood. I know he was one a’ you, but I coulda saved him. When that antidote comes along, all will be well.” 

He turned back to the fence and smiled at his neighbors, family, and friends, “But, until then, I’ll take care a’ ya. Someday, I’ll get Zach and the others to see the truth. Especially that Dib kid. No killin’ is necessary.” 

As he worked, the groans and growls from the zombies became like music to his ears. Somewhere in the growls, he could almost hear his wife’s voice … and it was almost enough to bring him to tears.

* * *

Leaves fell to the forest path as Dib’s small group trampled over them. Even in late fall, the leaves were still colorful and falling all at once. Because he lived in the city, Dib never really got the chance to see a lot of color or changing leaves. Sure, there were a couple of trees in his neighborhood, but, seeing them so colorful out in the countryside was almost enough to put a smile on his face. 

“So any idea on the whereabouts you last saw your friend, Dib?” Mady asked, turning to him, “Where were you two before Ralph found you?” 

“Oh, um, there’s a barn not too far from here. I saw him last there.” Dib shrugged, “But, I doubt he left a note or anything” Not that Dib would be able to understand Irken or anything. Perhaps he could get Zim to teach him his language-- at the very least show him the alphabet. That way they could have their own secret codes that no one else would know. 

“Right! I remember! That was where we found you, right? Well, hopefully he’s still around there!” Mady said cheerfully. It was reassuring that Mady and Adam knew the land well. 

“We can’t let our guard down-- you two know that. Keep your eyes peeled.” Devon ordered, taking the lead in front of Adam. The others simply groaned at him. Dib began to wonder why he was so keen on taking the lead, when all he had done before was sit by and watch from a distance. 

Then it hit him-- was he maybe planning something against Zim? Was that why he was so eager to find him and see what he looked like? Dib’s heart began pounding in his chest, thinking of all the horrible scenarios that could go wrong in his head. What if Devon shot and asked questions later? Was he that kind of guy? He seemed pretty trigger happy. But, maybe he wouldn’t? Dib’s brain was a mess; thinking of all sorts of bad things that could go wrong. 

His thoughts were abruptly cut short when he felt a swift force grab him. Dib felt something go over his mouth, panic immediately setting in. It was so fast, he was sure the others hadn’t even noticed. During the attack, his glasses had been flung off his face, falling onto the dirt path they had been traversing. Dib tried calling out for help, but whatever had it’s grip on him, tightened and pressed harder against his mouth. He hit the ground hard and was hidden by some bushes so that they were hidden. Whoever attacked him knew how to be stealthy … or to an extent. Finally, he was able to get a good look at his attacker. Without his glasses, his vision was blurry for a moment before finally settling in. His eyes widened when he realized who it was. 

“Zmim!?” Dib cried through Zim’s gloved hand across his mouth, his words muffled. The Irken’s PAK legs were unsheathed, lowering him to the ground. His ruby eyes glared at Dib’s brown ones, shushing him as quietly as he could. 

“Don’t talk!” he commanded, finally pulling his hand away. As quietly as he could, the legs retracted back into his PAK. “I’m getting you away from these humans! Zim received your message last night! You’re lucky I wasn’t far away!” 

Dib shook his head in response, “No! They’re nice! You must’ve received the message wrong! They’re very friendly!” 

“Irk, Dib! Would you be quiet!? They’re going to--” 

“Dib?” Adam’s voice called out, “Hey! Where’d he go?”   
“Dib! Hey, we’re supposed to stick together!” 

Devon’s suspicious voice spoke up after the two declared the boy’s absence, “His glasses are here. Did a zombie get him?” 

“We would’ve heard him scream. But, something happened.” Adam cupped his hands over his mouth and bellowed out. “DIB IF YOU’RE HERE, GIVE US A SIGN!” 

“Shut up, you fucking moron!” Devon yelled back in a whisper, “Do you want every zombie in the area to hear you!?” 

Zim watched in horror as he saw Dib scream out. He knew he should have kept him quiet and left. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, cringing as he heard him call out to the other humans. He should’ve just left him. He and GIR should’ve went off on their own. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about this kind of situation. 

“Adam! I’m right here! I’m fine!” Dib said, poking his head out from behind the bush. He gave the group a wave as he pushed through the brush beneath him. “We’re both fine!” 

“Both?” Devon raised a brow, looking skeptically at Dib, “What do you mean, both?” 

“Come, on Zim, I promise they’re alright.” he turned back to the bush and saw Zim glaring up at him from his sitting position. He extended a hand to the Irken and gave him a smile. “Trust me, please.” 

Zim’s eyes darted away from Dib’s hand for a moment, unsure of how to respond. His eyes darted back and forth and finally settled back on Dib’s hand. His antennae flattened and he let out a sigh, finally bringing his hand forward to grab Dib’s. He stood up from the bush and revealed himself to the humans Dib had come to befriend, much to his dismay. 

Both of them felt the fear and worried gazes of the humans on Zim. If it wasn’t the green skin that gave it away, then it was definitely the antennae sticking out of his head. Of all the shocked expressions, Devon’s was the one that looked the most horrified. He raised his machete and started walking forward, shaking his head. 

“What the fuck is that!?” he cried, now charging at Zim, “Dib, that is NOT human!”   
“Devon, don’t! Leave him alone! He’s fine!” 

Zim let out a screech and used his PAK legs to try and escape, but Devon was already on top of him before he could do much about it. Devon stomped a foot to Zim’s stomach, crushing him beneath his weight. He felt a crunch against his back, realizing his PAK was being crushed. Ultimately, it made the legs retract back inside. Devon pointed the tip of his machete at Zim and the Irken only glared back with rage burning in his eyes. 

“You … what the hell ARE you!?” Devon cried. When Zim didn’t respond, he put the tip of the machete at Zim’s neck. “FUCKING TALK!” 

“Get off of Zim, you vile creature!” Zim retorted, only to feel Devon’s foot press down harder on his stomach. Zim let out a yelp in pain as he grabbed Devon’s leg, trying to pry him off himself. It wasn’t working though, as he was just much too big. 

“Devon, that’s Dib’s friend! That’s Zim!” Mady cried, rushing over to him and trying to pry him off. “Leave him alone! He wasn’t attacking anyone!” 

“Get off of me!” Devon retaliated quickly, backhanding Mady and sending her to the ground. Zim and Dib each watched on with mixed expressions. Dib watched on in fear, and Zim watched on in amusement. “Dumb bitch!” 

That was Adam’s boiling point. He grabbed Dib’s weapon that had fallen to the ground and without Devon realizing, he smashed him over the head enough to knock him out. Devon fell limp and released the pressure on Zim’s body, allowing him to scoot away. 

“Mady, are you alright?” Adam asked, tossing the bat aside and rushing to his wife’s aid. “He didn’t hurt you much, did he?” 

“I’m fine … just hit my hip is all …” she stood up, flinching a bit, “I’ll be fine to walk …” 

Dib shook his head and brought a hand to his forehead, pushing back his hair. “Holy shit …” 

Zim was the first to glance back at hi, only to set in a glare. “I thought you said they were trustworthy!”

“Yeah, I guess I probably should have warned you about Devon. I didn’t think he’d snap at you like that!” Dib explained, trying to calm Zim down the best he could. 

“He tried to KILL Zim!!” Zim retaliated, now shouting at Dib. Before Dib could even hope to reply, Adam and Mady were now approaching the duo. Devon was thrown over Adam’s shoulder. Somehow, he was able to carry the teenager with no problem. 

“It’s Zim, right? I’m sorry that happened to you.” he raised his free hand to Zim, offering his own gloved hand to the Irken. He gave the green boy a smile. “The name is Adam. The unconscious idiot on my back is Devon. I promise we’re not as bad as we may come off.” 

Zim hesitated for a moment, raising a brow at the rather tall man before glancing back at Dib, wh in turn gave him a nod of approval. Slowly, his hand met with Adam’s to shake it. 

“This is my wife, Mady.” Adam said, wrapping his arm around her. “She’s the nicest lady you’ll ever meet.” 

“Hello there, Zim,” Mady crouched down, trying not to flinch at the pain in her hip. She was at eye level with Zim now. “It’s very nice to meet you. Dib has told us a lot about you.” 

“He has?” Zim turned back to Dib who was quite clearly flustered, a red flush crossing his face. Zim’s antennae flattened in confusion before turning back to Mady. “What did he say?” 

Mady chuckled at the boy’s worried expression and pat his head gently. Zim swatted her hand away quickly, not wanting someone touching him. “He’s only said good things about you. I’ll admit, I was a little freaked out when I saw your skin color and those things on your head. But, that must be a part of that rare skin condition of yours, huh?” 

Zim was beyond confused now. Dib went through all this trouble just to get these humans to accept him? Welcome him in without fear? He could barely begin to understand any of it, but, in the end he simply nodded in agreement. 

“Yes,” Zim replied, “It’s a skin condition. I’ve had it since, er, birth.” 

Mady cocked her head and looked at him with a saddened expression. “It doesn’t hurt you does it? What does this skin condition even do?” 

“Uhhh,” he turned back to Dib who looked just as anxious as him, “N-no, it doesn’t hurt Zim. It’s just simply, how you humans say, aesthetically … unappealing?” 

“Smooth, Zim.” Dib mumbled. “Real fuckin’ smooth.” 

Mady nodded, “Gotcha,” she stood up and turned back to Adam. “Either, way, we should probably get everyone back to Ralph’s place. We found Zim, and we can’t carry around Devon while we’re out here. You and I can go out hunting once they’re back, safe and sound.” 

“Wait a minute!” Everyone turned back to Zim who was tapping his foot aggressively. “Zim hasn’t agreed to any of this! Tell me, your defenses -- they’re sturdy? And the other humans there … they’re trustworthy?” 

Adam nodded, “For the most part, yes. Aside from this moronic kid.” he motioned towards Devon, “The ranch is safe-- big electric fences for miles keep the dead out. Everyone is very friendly, and all are willing to help pitch together. You’re safe with us, Zim. I can promise you that, kiddo.” 

“Zim, they’re telling the truth.” Dib added. “I would have left a long time ago if things didn’t seem right. We can stay there until we figure out a plan. What do you say?” 

Zim hesitated again, wanting very much to just run off and leave everything behind. But, the man and woman did seem rather pleasant … at least more pleasant than other humans he had met in the past year. After mulling it over with himself, he finally nodded. “Fine. Zim will come.” 

Dib sighed in relief, almost fearing he’d run off again, leaving him here with Keef alone. Now, at least they could suffer together. Mady and Adam lead the way as the two boys slumped behind them, following their quickened pace. Dib found himself glancing around before turning to Zim with a confused look on his face. 

“Wait, where’s GIR?” Dib asked, cocking his head.   
“Oh, right,” Zim brought his two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly, “GIR! Come out!” 

Through the leaves in the trees, GIR came crashing down, splatting on the ground with such a cartoony sound. He lay there for a moment, not moving, and during that time, Mady and Adam had turned to see the new addition to the group as well. 

“Masterrrr,” GIR tilted his head up, giggling a bit, “I thought we were playing hide n’ seek!” 

Adam narrowed his eyes on the talking dog and looked between him and Zim curiously, “And who is this?” 

Zim raised a hand to GIR, pulling him off of the dirt path and standing him up beside him. “This is my dog, GIR! He’s uh … a rare breed.” 

“Just like Zim!” Dib played along, throwing out his hands to both of them, “They were, uh, born around the same time and have the same rare condition. This makes it so GIR can talk!” 

Everyone stared at one another while GIR hummed happily, pacing back and forth. Dib and Zim were almost beginning to think that their bluff wasn’t working. It did seem incredibly stupid and farfetched, after all. Finally Mady and Adam smiled and nodded. 

“Sounds good to me.”   
“Yeah, me too!”   
“Welcome aboard, GIR!” 

Simultaneously, Zim and Dib let a sigh of relief out. Once again, their bluff had worked. But, perhaps it was just because these two were so naive and gullible. Dib began thinking that others, like Devon, wouldn’t be persuaded so easily. The trio began walking after the others, now all together again. 

Dib felt GIR grab his hand and looked down at the smiling robot. “The Dib human is back! Master was worried sick about ya~! When we got your message, he had us leave in the middle of the night to go and search for you, cuz you’re his best friend~!” 

“GIR!” Zim said angrily, snapping at his companion, “Enough! I wasn’t worried!” 

GIR cocked his head at his master, now genuinely confused, “You sure seemed like it. Aww, I think master’s just embarrassed~”

“BE QUIET, GIR!” a green flush began to form across Zim’s face. He rubbed the top of his head as he became quiet flustered, “I just didn’t want our only source of information to die is all!” 

Dib gave Zim a small smile, “Well, that’s nice of you, Zim. For the record, I’m glad you came back …” he rubbed the back of his head, and felt his cheeks grow warm, “I didn’t think you had heard my message …” 

Zim turned to him, narrowing his eyes at the boy. “I thought you were in danger. You scared Zim half to death!” 

“Well, next time show me how to use your alien devices before leaving me on my own, you jerk!” the hostility had returned to Dib’s voice. He groaned angrily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe I missed you.” 

“Likewise, Dib filth!” 

While the two bickered, GIR stood behind them, forming a heart shape with his paws, the two boys fitting perfectly in the shape. He squeaked happily, knowing that they were better off together. Once again, they were all together, and they were going to beat this together, whether Zim and Dib knew it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry this took so long to come out! I've been extremely busy with working so many hours at three different jobs, as well as trying to keep up with Inktober and my drawings! I really hope the next stretch isn't too long for the next chapter, but, just be aware that at the moment, life is pretty busy for me! The next chapter may be a while, but hopefully this will be enough to hold you off! 
> 
> I really missed writing Dib and Zim together, as their personalities are really fun to write. And, you know, the story is also about them. But, character building with Ralph's gang is also really nice to do too! Just wish I hadn't been so busy, otherwise this chapter wouldn't have felt like such a chore. Sorry if bits and pieces seemed to drag on a bit-- It'll get fixed next chapter! 
> 
> Also, for everyone who had their suspicions on Ralph, there ya go c;


	10. Secrets

The group made it safely back to Ralph’s farm, and just as Dib had done when he first arrived, Zim and GIR were eyeing the source of food they had, the defences, the large amount of land they had-- it was all truly impressive. Even to Zim, who had known much more sophisticated and dangerous technology ever since he was a smeet-- this looked like it could work. He was beginning to feel a little ridiculous for having not believed Ralph and Dib at first. 

“I can’t believe this setup …” Zim mumbled, “The humans are actually doing something right for once.” 

“See!? I told you! There’s nothing to worry about! We’re completely safe here!” 

Adam, who was still holding an unconscious Devon, glanced back at the boys and gave them a big smile. “So long as we work for it, Ralph said we can stay as long as we want! And that means you three as well!” 

Zim narrowed his eyes at Ralph, disgusted by his suggestion. Help out the humans? As if! Doing that would be unspeakable, and traitorous to the Tallest! As that thought came trailing back to Zim’s mind, he felt a knot in his stomach. No matter how many times he told himself it didn’t matter and that everything he had been told was a lie, he didn’t want to believe it. And yet … he had teamed up with Dib for this long, so, what was a few more humans? They knew what they were doing in this new world, anyway. Best to stick with them for a while. Reluctantly, the Irken nodded as they finally made their way into the main part of the farm. 

Adam turned back to Mady and gave her a kiss, “I’ll go set douchebag inside. Will you be alright showing them around?” 

“Adam, stop doting on me! I’ll be fine!” she affectionately kissed him back, “I can handle it.” 

Both Dib and Zim had mixed reactions; Dib smiling at how great their relationship was, and Zim nearly forcing a gag at the repulsive scene. GIR on the other hand, was more interested in the cows as he starred in awe at the sheer amount of them before him. 

Adam turned away, heading towards the warehouse, and as if on cue, Ralph showed up to welcome Zim into his community. He heard the familiar voice call out to them and turned to see his big doofy smile and cowboy hat. Even though Dib and the others had done a good job at convincing him it was safe here, there was still something about Ralph that threw him off just a bit. 

“Hello there, Zim! Good to see you again, kiddo!” he said joyfully, reaching his hand down, “Good thing they found you. Guess it’s getting worse out there. Dangerous for a kid to be on his own!” 

Reluctantly, Zim shook Ralph’s hand, agreeing with him. “Yes. Very dangerous for a normal human boy such as myself.” It always irked him to say such a lie, as he was a professionally trained Irken Soldier who clearly had years beyond these humans. But, for the sake of their own lives, he had to keep up the face. A stupid facade at that. 

“Well, either way good to have you here. Mady, why don’t you and the boys go check the perimeter? I’ll send Adam your way soon!” he turned back to the warehouse and raised a brow, “Speaking of which, what happened to the kid? Devon?” 

Zim immediately spoke up, thrusting his hand in the warehouse’s direction. “He tried to KILL Zim!” 

Dib quickly cut him off and shook his head. “Devon was just scared is all. Zim is pretty … er, weird looking after all.” 

“Hey!!” 

“He acted out of fear before asking questions. Adam just knocked him out-- he should be fine, right, Mady?” Dib asked the woman, only for her to nod in agreement. 

“Mhmm. It was just a little bop. He’ll be as good as new shortly.” 

Ralph sighed and nodded. “I see … I’ll have to give the boy a strict talking to. Might as well check that head for a concussion while I’m at it. Thanks for the report, everyone. Let me know what the fences are like as well.” 

With a nod, the group turned away and began walking towards the fields. GIR joined them as soon as he saw they were walking off, clearly eager to see the cows up close. When they were far away from Ralph, Mady let out a sigh of relief. 

“I wish Devon hadn’t lashed out at you, Zim. Ralph doesn’t really … like violence all that much.” 

Zim raised a brow at her in confusion. “No violence?? How do you survive something like this with no violence?!” 

“I think she meant between other humans. Which makes sense. Fight the dead and befriend the living. That's how things got better in all the movies and stories I’ve read about these kinds of things.” Dib explained, “Kinda like how we teamed up, even though we’re sworn enemies.” 

Mady couldn’t help but chuckle at their conversation, “Mortal enemies?” she mimicked, “That’s too cute. Sometimes I keep forgetting you two are just kids.” 

Both Zim and Dib retaliated, “We’re not cute!!” Only for Mady and GIR to burst into laughter. Much to their dismay, it was pretty cute.

* * *

After a little bit of walking and talking amongst one another, they were finally to the fields Ralph wanted them to check. Cows were gathered all over, mooing and relaxing on the grass. This was too much for GIR to handle, who was already running off to be at one with his kind. 

“Oh-- be careful, GIR--” Mady said, trying to call out to him, “Should we stop him? I don’t want them to accidentally hurt him …” 

“I wouldn’t worry, lady, nothing can harm him.” Zim replied, crossing his arms. “Absolutely nothing.” 

“I hope you’re right … either way, while he’s busy, let's check the fences over here. Sometimes the dead get tangled up and we need to get them out and take care of them. Most times though, they get fried up and die on the spot.” 

They nodded and followed her to a spot she was talking about. After a bit of searching, they had found a zombie whose torso was entangled into the wired fence. It was quiet, and it wasn’t moving. Dib and Zim could tell from the char on its body that it was dead. 

“So we just push it off, then?” Dib asked. When Mady nodded in response, he stepped forward with his bat, pressing the tip to the Zombie’s chest and pushing him off of the wires carefully. It fell with a crunch to the ground. 

“Good. Now you know what we’re looking for. Just be careful when you take care of them. You don’t want to get electrocuted like they were. Luckily, using your bat should be fine.” 

Zim grunted in disbelief. His only real weapons were made of metal, so how was he supposed to help? He turned away from them, scouring the landscape ahead of them and noticed something in the distance-- another entanglement perhaps? He squinted and tried to focus, and finally saw it. 

“I found another one! Dib filth, lets go!” 

The two took off, leaving Mady sitting there with a smile on her face. Mortal enemies or not, it seemed like they were beginning to get along. She looked down at her belly, rubbing it soothingly. She only hoped her own child would be like them-- determined and ready to face the world head on. 

It was at that moment that she felt a twinge of pain in her stomach, causing her to let out a groan of pain. She lowered to her knees, holding herself as she waited for the quick wave of pain to be over with. She was nearing birth, so, it’s not surprise the baby was ready to come out. It wasn’t long before the others had noticed and came running back. 

“Mady?!” Dib called out, running faster than either of them. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?” 

Mady shook her head and stood back up glancing down at the three worried ones before her. “Ah … it’s nothing … I think the baby’s getting tired of being in there …” 

Zim glared at her stomach in utter confusion. There was a baby inside her? His eyes darted between her face and her stomach before simply shaking his head in disgust. 

“Did you EAT a baby?! What’s wrong with you, lady!?”  
“I bet they’re yummy~” GIR added. 

“Oh my god …” Dib pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. How could they be this dense. “Zim, we learned about this in school. We literally talked about it a couple days ago.” 

Mady simply chuckled and shook her head, “Don’t get angry, Dib. It’s alright.” she looked at Zim and then back at her belly, “Zim, I’m pregnant, do you know what that means?” 

Zim raised a brow, “Maybe?” 

“It means that there’s a baby growing inside me. When it’s ready to come out, it does, and I think he’s ready soon, haha~” 

“How??” 

“Oh, er … well, you’ll see soon enough, anyways.” She reached forward and grabbed the Irken’s hand, gently placing it on her belly. “See? You can feel him kicking …” 

Zim’s red eyes stared wide at the sensation he was feeling. It was true-- he could feel the baby’s every movement just by holding his hand there. He looked on in amazement, or was it fear? Either way, it was amazing how humans worked. Irkens were born in tubes filled with ooze, and humans were born in such a bizarre way. 

“Huh …” Zim murmured in awe. His antennae flattened a bit and he smiled, “Humans are weird …” 

She chuckled a bit, “That we are, Zim …” 

A small smile crossed Dib’s face as he watched the scene unfold. Was Zim actually gaining some humanity? He had never seen the Irken so awestruck by a human before. Perhaps he was beginning to change for the better. It’d be a welcome change, that was certain. After a peaceful moment, Dib finally looked away back at the fence, noticing a few more dead entangled in it. 

“We should probably get back to doing the fence,” Dib insisted, walking over and kneeling next to Mady. “Do you need to go back? Zim and I can handle this.” 

Mady simple shook her head and with a bit of struggle, rose back to her feet. She gave the boys a look of assurance. “I’m fine. It was just a … small contraction is all. If it gets worse, I’ll let you boys know.” 

They both nodded and without waiting for Mady, they ran off to fix the rest of the fence. GIR chased after them both happily, but, not before giving Mady’s belly a gentle tap. 

“I’ll beat you there, Dib-stink!!”  
“No you won’t!! I’m faster than you!”  
“GIR, grab on! We’re gonna beat him!”  
“Hey!! You’re not suppose to actually beat me!!” 

Mady smiled happily watching the three of them race off. The three of them certainly had a lot of energy. But, with the dead walking now, it was definitely a welcome trait to have. More could get done that way-- and since they were all so young, they could prove to be rather useful. More useful than a pregnant lady like herself could ever hope to be. 

As she began walking towards them, she felt another twinge in her belly. It was gone within a few seconds, but, the frequency of the twinges was getting concerning. Hopefully this’d be a safe place to give birth … if the time came sooner rather than later …

* * *

It had to be late afternoon when they finished with the fence. The air was growing cold, and the sun was setting fast. Luckily, no dead dared to try and take on all four of them while they were out in the fields. Not only to Dib’s surprise, but Zim’s as well, the four of them were actually having a great time talking amongst one another. Mady found Zim incredibly funny, and for once, Zim didn’t mind the company of humans. To Dib, who had to be subjected to his hatred for a year, it was nice. 

The four finally returned to the ranch where they found Ralph and Zach making their way from the barn. The taller man looked to the four of them and smiled widely. 

“I’m guessin’ the fences are good to go?” 

Mady nodded in response, “Yep! You’ve got some great workers on your hands, Ralph. Dib, Zim, and GIR here were so speedy I could hardly keep up!” 

Dib and GIR smiled back while Zim simply placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest proudly at the man. Ralph howled with laughter seeing how they all acted. 

“Good to know!! You boys deserve a good meal! Zach and I have everything set up inside!” he turned to Dib with a smile, “I believe your friend Keef has your bowls, kiddos.” 

At the mention of the red haired freak, both Dib and Zim squirmed a bit. During everything that had happened today, they forgot about Keef and how he was here with them. Dib looked back at Ralph, hoping to not come off as disgusted at the mention of the other kid’s name. 

“Uh, thanks, Ralph--!” Dib managed to say, “We’re pretty tired so, we’re gonna head back.” 

Ralph nodded, “Ya boys deserve it! Get a good night’s rest! We’ll expect more out of ya tomorrow!”

Zach turned to them and gave Dib and Zim a wave before heading off with his father. Zim was honestly shocked at how sickeningly nice everyone was here. Well, except for that Devon boy, but, aside from that, everyone was really friendly. Zim couldn’t understand. 

Mady and Dib led the way back towards the barn, noticing light from inside illuminating. It seemed so inviting! Zim glanced at either human and noticed big, warm smiles on their faces. In return, a small smirk even appeared on the Irken’s face. Perhaps it really would be safe here after all. 

Once in the barn, the smell of freshly cooked food overwhelmed the four four of them. Zim thought the smell of the gross human food would send him into a gagging fit, but … for whatever reason it didn’t bother him. That was indeed very strange to him. 

Mady turned back to the three, “I’m going to go see Adam. Goodnight you guys!”

Zim watched as she headed off towards the one she called ‘Adam’. He watched as she walked up to a bearded man and embraced him in a hug. They even did the gross human ritual that he didn’t know the name of. The gross, lip smacking one. He shuddered a bit and followed Dib as he led the way further into the barn. 

Everyone in the barn had their eyes on Zim and GIR. Zim usually didn’t mind the attention, and would want the humans to bask in his glory, but, without his disguise, he felt absolutely naked underneath their gaze. What were they thinking? Did they actually buy it that he was a human? They had to buy it-- humans were dumb. That was when he locked eyes with the ginger haired boy that attacked him earlier. 

Devon glared at Zim, raising a brow at the Irken. Zim only glared back. He knew for certain Devon was catching on. Devon wasn’t as dumb as the others-- and maybe was even on par with Dib’s intelligence. For a moment, Zim felt worried, but he was pulled out of his worrisome trance when he heard Dib’s voice. 

“Hey … Keef …” 

Of course those had to be the words that pulled him out of his trance. 

“Oh! Dib, you’re back!” Keef stood up and leapt at Dib, hugging him with such intensity. Dib felt like he was going to be crushed from the hug. “Didja find--” 

Zim was ready to run. Ready to haul ass out of there. Before he could even hope to get away, he felt Keef slam into him full force, The duo slammed to the ground, and Zim cried out for help as Keef nuzzled him. 

“GET OFF OF ME YOU PATHETIC WORM!!” he screamed out.  
“It’s so good to see you again, Zim!! We have so much catching up to do!!”  
“IT’S BEEN THREE DAYS, K E E F!! NOW GET OFF OF ZIM!!” 

As GIR clapped happily, Dib couldn’t help but snicker at the scene unfolding. That’s what Zim gets for not coming with him in the first place. Once Keef finally relaxed, Dib helped pry him off of Zim and get the Irken to his feet. He watched as Zim dusted himself off, fiddling with his crooked antennae and overall fixing himself after that kerfuffle. 

“I asked Ralph for some extra servings! I knew you guys would be coming back with Dib! That’s why I asked!” he handed a bowl to GIR first, who happily took it without any obligations. The robot immediately started devouring the stew, making disgusting slurping noises as he went. 

“Here ya go Zim!” Keef shoved the bowl in Zim’s direction, resulting in a shaky response from the Irken. Slowly and carefully, he took the hot bowl in his hands and starred at it, one brow raised. He watched as Dib happily took his bowl and began digging in. He watched as the three of them shared in happy expressions. But, not Zim. 

Earth good was toxic to him. Well, all food except for sugar and sweets it seemed. He took a spoonful and brought it to his nose (?) to smell the concoction. To his surprise though, it didn’t smell as bad as he was anticipating. In fact, it even smelled … good? 

Dib noticed he was about to take a spoonful and stopped him. He whispered to him, rather aggressively, “Are you insane?! Do you WANT to freak out in front of everyone? If you eat that won’t you like, explode, or some shit??” 

“Let me be, filth worm!” Zim replied just as aggressive. He turned back to his bowl, raising a brow at it, “It’s weird but, Zim .. isn’t repulsed by the smell of it …” 

Carefully and slowly, he brought the spoon to his mouth and took the bite in stride. He was expecting to vomit on the floor, or throw himself around in pain as his mouth would begin to bubble. But, none of that happened. He swallowed … and nothing happened. On top of that, it tasted amazing! 

He stared wide eyed at the bowl in his hands. “It’s … good …” 

“What??” Dib replied, utterly confused. “Really??”

“It’s really good!” and with that, Zim dug in, enjoying every bit of the stew in front of him. He couldn’t understand, nor did he want to for the sake of his own sanity. All that mattered though was that he was exhausted, and his PAK was crying out for nutrients. This was one way of getting them. When he finished, he sat the bowl down and wiped his mouth clear of any leftover soup. Never before had human food tasted that good! 

Dib on the other hand, wasn’t as happy as Zim was. If anything, it worried him a bit. All the other times he had watched him eat, he turned into a mess of screams and bubbling. Why wasn’t that happening now? Was he just adapting finally? Or was something else at work? Either way, Dib didn’t like it. Something was off. 

Keef giggled happily as he began talking everyone’s ears off. Before he could get any further, Dib put his meal down and rose a hand at their ‘friend’. “Actually, Keef, I think we’re gonna go to bed soon. I’m exhausted, and I’m sure Zim is--” 

“Zim is never tir--” He was met with a swift elbow to his ribs, resulting in a flinch from the Irken. It didn’t take him long to catch on. “Uh-- YES! Zim is VERY tired.” he faked an over exaggerated yawn, “I’m so tired I could pass out right here!” 

“Oh! Well, if ya want, I can let ya sleep then!” Keef said happily. He turned to GIR who was playing with Zim’s empty bowl. “Hey GIR, if ya want I can show ya around!” Much to Keef’s excitement, GIR agreed and skipped off happily with Keef at his side. 

A sigh of relief escaped Dib as he watched them walk off. “Finally-- a moment’s peace.” he turned to Zim and rose a brow at him, “Are you … feeling okay? Like, you don’t feel like you’re gonna explode, do you?” 

“If you’re talking about the food, Zim feels fine!!” the Irken assured his friend, “Perhaps it’s for the best! Once I run out of sugary substances, I’ll need something else to keep me going!” 

Dib turned away, tucking his knees in as he mumbled to himself, “I hope it’s not the bite affecting you …” 

“Eh? What was that??”  
“Nothing. I really am tired though, so, I’m going to bed early.”  
“It’s barely dark out!” 

Dib ignored Zim and found his sleeping spot nearby that Keef had set up. A pillow and a rather fluffy blanket-- though the floor was hard, it was as comfy as it was getting. As he lay down he turned his head to Zim. 

“You should get some sleep as well.”  
“Zim told you-- I don’t need to sleep!”  
“You slept the other night though.” 

Zim shook his head vigorously, perfectly fine with not sleeping. Dib decided he wouldn’t press it any further and turned away, nuzzling into his pillow. Within minutes, he was out cold, leaving Zim to himself. 

It wasn’t much longer before Keef and GIR returned, to which Zim actually pretended to be asleep for his own sanity. He was more than happy when he saw Keef go to sleep as well. As for GIR, he cuddled up next to Keef just as he had done at the school. As much as Zim told himself and Dib that he wasn’t tired, he began to feel himself nodding off. He didn’t like being left alone with so many people he didn’t know-- especially that Devon boy-- in the same room with him. But, his eyes wouldn’t listen and he eventually fell asleep.

* * *

_Zim felt pain all over his body. He couldn’t tell for sure where he was, but, he was sitting in what felt like water-- but, he wasn’t affected by it? He struggled to open his eyes, but they felt glued shut. When he finally forced them open, it felt like they were burning. He struggled to stand, every part of his body sending pain shooting up through him. Through the burning sensation in his eyes, he looked around the now darkened room. He didn’t know where he was. The liquid he stood in went to his knees. He walked for a bit, holding his stomach as he trudged through the darkened water liquid beneath him. Dib wasn’t nearby from what he could see. Neither was Keef or GIR, or anybody else for that matter._

_The more he stood on his feet, the harder it became to move. Unable to bear the pain anymore, he fell forward, splashing into the watery substance beneath him. He thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to just lay there and die in that moment. No matter what position he tried get comfortable in, pain was always there. Suddenly, he began hearing footsteps in the water._

_His antennae twitched and he struggled to raise his head up. The footsteps were coming closer now, and he felt a horrible twinge deep within him. Did whoever was making those noises want to harm him? He tried with all his might to reach for anything-- a weapon of any kind. His PAK wouldn’t listen to him. He brought his hand back when he realized there was no PAK attached to him. A sudden sense of dread washed over him. Was this why he felt so horrible? How long did he have left? And most importantly, where were Dib and the others?_

_Zim struggled yet again as the footsteps grew nearer, finally forcing himself to sit up. The water dripped from his face as he gagged at the putrid taste of it. Was he sitting in sewage? He couldn’t tell for certain, but it was terrible. He awaited in the darkness-- waited for whatever was making those footsteps to make themselves apparent. Finally, from out of the darkness they appeared, and Zim’s eyes widened._

_Standing before him was an Irken just a bit taller than him. Despite the darkness surrounding them, the purple and red glow from both of their eyes was enough to illuminate the surrounding area. This Irken wore a purple outfit, and they looked down at Zim with an angry glare. Immediately without thinking, Zim knew who this was._

_“ … Tak …?” Zim whimpered. It even hurt to talk. “Wh- ..”_

_“It’s best that you don’t talk, Zim.” she explained, circling around him. “You’re just about dead, after all. Why waste your energy? Though, it is amusing to see you suffer like this.”_

_He gulped when he heard her chuckle. What was going on? Why was she on Earth? How did she get back to Earth? None of this was making any sense! Again, Zim tried standing, only to fall back to the water, whimpering again at the agonizing pain he felt._

_“Your PAK is gone, you idiot. Don’t do anything foolish or you’ll only die faster. Five minutes, Zim. That’s all you have left.” a smirk grew on her face, “How I’ve waited for this day …”_

_Through his pain, Zim glared at her, baring his zipper-like teeth at her. “Tell Zim then … what’s going on? Where is everyone? Why are you here?!”_

_“I suppose it’s only fair I answer your questions. First of all, what’s going on … and why am I here …” she continued circling around him. The splashing noises of her footsteps grew annoying for Zim. “The Tallest ordered me to get rid of you, of course. They knew I failed in my mission before … so I had one more chance to get it right. And, here it is. My victory!”_

_“You …” Zim attempted to lunge at her, swiping his gloved hand at her. But, between his pain and her agility, he was unable to do so, and landed in the water again, “Fight me!! Stop running!!”_

_“I could easily do away with you in your current state Zim. I don’t think you want that.”  
“Zim would rather take a swift death than suffer-- or die trying to kill you, Tak!!” _

_A small smile crossed her face. She rose a brow at him, “You want to die? Before finding out what happened to the human? What was his name again?”_

_Zim’s eyes strained open through the pounding pain, “Dib!”_

_“Ah! Yes!” Tak snapped her fingers in Zim’s direction, “Dib was his name. The loon.”_

_“What did you do to him? What did you do to all of them?!”_

_An evil, toothy grin came from the girl, “They’re dead Zim. Just as you’ll be in a moment.”_

_“You’re a liar!!” Zim pounded his fist in the water beneath him, flinching at the pain, “All of this is a lie!!”_

_“If it’s a lie, then why does it feel so real? That’s what you’re wondering, right?”_

_At her response, Zim’s eyes widened before looking down into the murky water beneath him. It did feel so real. At the same time though, it had to be fake. Everything she was saying had to be fake. She was an outcast just like him, after all. Why would the Tallest make her an assassin out to get him? It just didn’t make any sense!_

_“How …” Zim whispered quietly._

_“Sorry, you’ll have to speak up. I can’t hear your pathetic whining.”_

_“HOW!?” Zim threw up his head, antennae twitching with fear and pain. His eyes burned with anger as he stared at her. “How did this happen!?”_

_Tak went quiet. She didn’t answer Zim. Faced with anger, Zim pounded a fist into the water again as he demanded answers from her. Again she didn’t answer._

_“TAK!!” he cried, “WHAT DID YOU DO!?”_

_“Your mission was a lie, Zim. Nothing matters anymore. Just give up. Why continue going when you’re a failure? You’re PAKless, companionless, and your leaders want you dead. Just. Give. Up.”_

_He couldn’t even be sure if it was Tak talking anymore. Between his own mind playing tricks on him and her voice, it became an amalgamation of hatred. Everything went quiet for a moment and Zim had finally broken down. Sobs escaped the Irken’s mouth. He truly was a failure. He hurt so much-- everywhere. His body felt like it’d give out at any moment. His eyes were puffy with a burning sensation. He just wanted to know how this could’ve happened. The last thing he remembered was being in Ralph’s barn safe and sound … how could this have happened?_

_Suddenly, Tak began laughing. Zim looked up as tears stained his face. Tiny giggles became chuckles which turned into psychotic laughter. His eyes widened in a panic as he tried to get away from her. A sudden burst of strength came back as he struggled through the water. He felt waves crash into him as Tak tackled him, burying his face beneath the waves._

_His lungs struggled to gasp for breaths and his arms flailed in a panic. In any hopes of trying to get the upper hand, he brought his hands into the water, searching for something to use as a weapon. Perhaps a rock or something? He finally grasped something with a handle and with as much strength as he could muster, he lunged his arm up, managing to hit her. As soon as he heard her cry out, he took the advantage and attacked her. He took the knife in hand and plunged it at her._

_He didn’t care where he was aiming, he just stabbed her. Over and over and over again. So many times until he didn’t have the strength anymore. After the rush of exhilaration, he finally got a better look at her. No longer did her face resemble that of an Irken, but now more of a demonic being. Long teeth, a red glow to her purple eyes. Zim fell back in horror as her body stood up, bleeding into the water._

_“You’re an … absolute failure ... “ she whispered, “One minute left Zim …” And with that, she vanished into thin air._

_Zim clenched his hands, and in the most pained cry, screamed out in frustration. He could feel himself succumbing to his pain now. What was the point in even trying now? She said it herself-- he only had a minute left. He fell backwards, letting his head submerge in the water, letting the pain overcome him. Deep in his body, he could barely hear the sound of his thumping organs. Zim closed his eyes and couldn’t get Tak’s words out of his mind._

_He never woke up._

* * *

Zim awoke with an audible gasp as he flung himself up from his lying position on the ground. His antennae were twitching vigorously and he was covered in a cold sweat. His hands were shaking and he was short of breath. It was all a dream, but, it all felt so real too. He closed his eyes, relieved when there was no burning sensation anymore. Aside from the terrified pain in his chest, his body didn’t ache or hurt. He was safe. 

When Zim finally became aware of his surroundings, he glanced over and in the darkness he was able to make out the sleeping figures of Dib, Keef, and GIR. He sighed a shaky breath and pulled his knees close, holding himself. His nightmare version of Tak was so vivid in his mind. It seemed so real to him. The pain, the rancid water, and even Tak. But, what stuck with Zim more were her words. 

He already knew he was a failure. That much was apparent. But, she did make a good point. Why continue going if there was no outcome? Either way Earth was doomed. Whether it be from him or the zombies, it didn’t matter. Was it, really worth holding on to? To the Tallest, Tak, and the entire Irken Empire, everything would be better if he were dead. 

Zim’s antennae twitched when he heard noises come from Dib as he slept. He had noticed it when they first teamed up in the beginning, but, Dib seemed to talk in his sleep. Or was he perhaps having a nightmare too? A smile formed on Zim’s face, much to his dismay. To Dib, there was always something worth fighting for. He even managed to convince Zim that they weren’t failures in this new world. Still, Zim wasn’t so sure. 

He sighed heavily and looked around the darkened opened area. It was too dark, and he got chills as he remembered his dream. He needed to be somewhere that was lighter. Zim stood up and walked quietly towards the barn doors. He just needed some time to relax and forget the horrible nightmare that had unfolded. One thing was certain-- he was never telling Dib about this dream-- or any others for that matter. 

Carefully and quietly, Zim opened the door to the outside world and was glad to see it was a clear night. The moon shone brightly, making the world quite bright as opposed to the inside of the barn. The stars were out too, which Zim didn’t mind at all. He closed the door behind him and walked out a little bit father before sitting on the grass. 

You wouldn’t even know the rest of the world had fallen apart being on the ranch. This must be what Dib meant by it being safe. The entire place was untouched by the undead and for once in his life since the outbreak, Zim actually felt safe-- despite the horrible dream. He felt a cold wind whip through the air and he stuck out his head, letting his antennae blow in the breeze. He didn’t much like the cold, but after a night like that, he needed to cool down. 

Zim’s red eyes stared up at the night sky. From here, he could pinpoint all the stars and planets he could see from here. He could even make out one of the tiniest dots in the sky which was his home planet, Irk. He smiled sadly up at the sky, reaching his hand out towards the star. Irk was so far away. He kept telling himself that he didn’t care. No one on Irk cared about him, so why should he care? As much as Zim hated to say it, he was beginning to feel very homesick. 

Zim was snapped out of his trance when he heard the barn doors open. He spun around quickly to see who had come out. Perhaps Dib had noticed he had left? He was quick to find out that it was Devon and his heart sank. Great, he was probably there to kill him once and for all-- just like he had planned to do earlier. When Devon made eye contact with him, Zim stood up, glaring directly at the ginger haired boy. 

Devon said nothing and walked towards Zim, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. For every step Devon took, Zim took several steps back. What was this human planning? Zim was far too small to overpower him, as he saw earlier. Just as he prepared to have to fight Devon, the boy stopped in front of him. Zim rose a brow curiously at him. Devon looked at him and sighed. 

“Look. I’m sorry for trying to hurt you earlier.” he finally said. Zim starred back in astonishment at what he just said. “It’s just … look, I know you’re not from here. You may have everyone else fooled, but not me.” 

Zim narrowed his eyes at the boy, “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“How long are you going to keep up this facade? I know you’re an alien. You can’t fool me.” he sighed and took out his hands from his pockets. “Look, if you’re going to be living here, you need to show us that we can trust you.” 

“Well, Zim doesn’t trust you.” Zim snarled back. 

Devon pushed his glasses up on his nose, “Look, Zim, is it? We’ve already got enough problems with the zombies. So long as you don’t have a massive invasion heading for earth, I think this can work out.” 

Zim’s antennae flattened, “Yeah … an invasion. You don’t need to worry about something like that. It’s like you said, the zambees are our common enemy now.” 

Devon snickered at Zim’s word for them. “Zambees? That’s dumb. I don’t know how anybody is buying this shit.” 

Zim watched careful as Devon came to sit beside him. Zim refused to sit beside him until he was absolutely sure he was trustworthy. He watched Devon pull something from his pockets-- and Zim was sure it was a weapon. He prepared to attack with everything he had in his PAK, but, to his surprise he just pulled out a small box. 

From the box, Devon took out a cigarette and popped one into his mouth. “Haven’t had a smoke in forever. Ralph doesn’t like me doing it in the barn.” he turned to Zim, offering one from within the box. “Want one?” 

Zim rose a brow at the question, “One what?? What are you feeding me??” 

“It’s not food, stupid. It’s a cigarette. You know, a stress reliever. Try it.” 

Zim grabbed one a bit hesitant and took it in his hands. Using his fingers he played with the white stick, trying to figure out what was so great about it. 

“No, put it in your mouth. Watch.” From his pockets, Devon took a lighter to the tip of his cigarette and lit it. The end flared to life and smoke rose from the tip. Zim watched in awe as the tip glowed a bright orange. 

“Here,” Devon brought the lighter to Zim’s own cigarette and lit it. Zim still held the strange ‘stress reliever’ in his hand before bringing it to his mouth. “Now you just breath in and breathe out the smoke.” 

“Why??” 

“Why not? You only live once. This is a mad world we live in Zim.” he took a puff and blew out the smoke, “The only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness.” 

Zim didn’t like this psychological talk one bit-- nor did he like the smell of this so called cigarette. Nonetheless, he breathed in with it propped in his mouth. Only a few seconds later to cough violently and stamp the cigarette. 

“YOU’RE TRYING TO K-KILL ZIM,” Zim couldn’t stop coughing and felt tears welling up in his eyes, “THIS IS NO STRESS RELIEVER!!” 

Devon stifled a laugh and shook his head, “And that’s how I know you’re an alien. No one would pass up a smoke in this new world. So, tell me, alien. Where are you from?” 

“Zim doesn’t have to tell you anything.” he said as he wiped away the tears in his eyes. His coughing seemed to lessen.  
“You do if we’re going to be working together. There needs to be trust between us.”  
“So, tell Zim where you’re from.” 

“Far away,” Devon replied, putting the cigarette butt out and tossing it away, “Lived across the country, but, my family and I came here for vacation. Lost them in the first couple of days. No sense in crying over it.” 

Already, Zim could tell Dib and Devon were two completely different people. Sure, they were both crazy in their own aspect, but, something was just … off about Devon. First off, how could one not care about their family’s death? Dib was more than upset over his father and sister’s deaths. Humans were strange. 

“Now, it’s your turn, alien.” 

Before Zim could even respond, the duo suddenly heard something in the distance. Zim immediately became alert and stood up, as did Devon. 

“You heard that too?” Devon asked.  
“Yes. Sounds like zambees.” Zim nodded in response. 

The distant groans of zombies sounded muffled by something. It didn’t seem like they were coming from the forest, but rather, somewhere nearby and inside a building. Their first instinct was to check the barn, but upon arriving at the doors, the sounds only grew more distant. Zim closed his eyes and listened carefully. He felt his antennae twitch as he finally picked up a signal. 

“Over here,” he instructed, guiding Devon along with him. 

The two ran down the pathway and towards Ralph’s house. The sound was getting louder now, and all Zim could begin to think was that maybe Ralph or his son had become infected. They ran to the front porch, and again, the zombie’s moans became muffled. 

“Wait, it sounds louder over here,” Devon instructed Zim to follow him back down the porch steps and to the side of the house. When the duo arrived at the side, they found a storm cellar, as well as the source of the noises. 

Devon readied his machete and looked at Zim. Finally, he was able to see the alien in action as he prepared weapons from his PAK. 

“You ready? It sounds like there’s a lot in there.”  
“Don’t worry about Zim. I’ll be fine. Do you think your human weapon is up to this?”  
“We’ll find out, I guess.” 

Devon realized that the storm cellar was indeed not locked. So, whatever was down here needed to be taken care of. If not, it could get loose on the ranch. In one swift motion, Devon flung open the cellar door and stormed inside. Zim followed on his PAK legs. 

The light from the moon outside was enough to shine some light on what was being kept down here. Both froze in fear as they saw a giant jail-like structure full of the undead. Some were mutilated completely while others seemed fairly human. The undead immediately noticed them and attempted to break free of their cell. 

“What is this??” Zim asked, completely dumbfounded, “It’s full of zambees!” 

“I’m not waiting to find out. We need to warn the others!” 

“Not so fast ya’ two.” 

Zim and Devon froze in their tracks and slowly turned around. Standing in the light of the moon was Ralph. His shadow grew along the ground, and he gave a look of disappointment at the two of them. He sighed and through his anger gave them a smile. 

“You’re not tellin’ anyone about anythin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that-- I actually did manage to squeeze Tak in here without it needing to make sense asjdkfkdkf  
> I wanted to include her, but, I also figured it wouldn't make a lot of sense for her to come back. So why not have her come back in the form of a nightmare?  
> Zim has to stop having such terrible nightmares, man. It's really starting to get to him. 
> 
> Also is bitch boy Devon having a redemption arc? Who knows~ 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!


	11. Destruction

Zim and Devon stared in disbelief as Ralph seemed nonchalant about the whole thing. They couldn’t tell which was more unsettling; the cage full of zombies behind them or Ralph who gave them a smile despite the circumstances. Clearly, he was mad, so what was with the face. Zim furrowed his brow at Ralph, wondering what they could possibly hope to do next. Much to his thanks, Devon spoke up first. 

“Ralph, what the _fuck_ is all this?!” Devon cried, “Why are you keeping undead locked up like this? Why haven’t you killed them yet?!” 

Though Ralph’s eyes gleamed against the moonlight, the had nothing but emptiness in them. “Dead? No. They’re only sick. They’re mah friends n’ family. Mah wife-- Zach’s mother,” Zim and Devon turned behind them and saw a zombie in front of the rest of them, reaching it’s arms out towards them. She wore similar clothes to Ralph-- perhaps that was his wife. “That’s why they’re stayin’. No need to get all in a huff over it. They’re safe inside that cell.” 

“Cure??” Devon retorted, giving Ralph a confused look, “They’re _dead_ , Ralph! There is no cure for them! Haven’t you seen the movies!?” 

“Now, Devon, let’s not be hasty. Surely fiction n’ reality are two different things.” 

Zim’s antennae flattened and he glared at Ralph, “Fiction is our reality now, human! The zambees are dead! What more proof do you need!?” 

Ralph shook his head and groaned, “Y’know, I never really did like ya, Zim. After, all you did kill my good friend.” 

Zim had a look of utter confusion on his face, “What’re you …” Then he remembered. The night before Ralph found him and Dib, they found a zombie walking around the cornfields nearby. The night they stayed in that barn. Was that his friend he was talking about? Nonetheless, she shook that feeling away. “That friend of yours was dead, Ralph. I had to protect myself!” 

“You young, stupid kids-- don’t ya understand that ya are safe here?”  
“And what if they break free of the cage? It’s rusted to all hell!” Devon exclaimed.  
“That’s what that cellar door is for. It’ll keep em securely in here until we get a cure!”

Devon shook his head, huffing a bit, “I’m sick and tired of this shit.” he rose his machete and with a swift motion, stuck the weapon right through his wife’s heart. 

“NO!!” Ralph cried out in horror. Still, despite the wound inflicted, she kept coming at them. 

“If she was just sick, how could she take a blow like that?!” he pulled out the machete and hacked away at her rotting arm, “Here arm is missing and she’s bleeding out! How come she’s still moving without a problem!?” 

“You little shithead!” Ralph charged at Devon, slamming him into the cage as hard as he could. Zim watched on in fear as this happened, wondering what he should do. Everything was happening too fast for his liking. In an instant, however, he immediately thought of Dib and GIR. He had to get them out of here. 

Zim was about to turn away when he noticed the zombie grab a hold of Devon. With both Ralph and the zombie’s grip on him, he was sure to die. Without even thinking, Zim ran over to him and using one of his PAK legs, he stabbed the zombie, cutting between Ralph and Devon. 

Ralph, in a panic, let go of Devon and watched as his wife fell to the floor. He was paralyzed with grief and unable to move. Zim yanked at Devon’s arm, attempting to move him. 

“Let’s get out of here! I need to get to my friends!” Zim cried.  
“No. You go,” Devon replied, tugging away. “Ralph can’t stay here.”  
“He’ll kill you!”  
“Just go! Get Mady and Adam out of here too!’ 

Zim watched on with conflicting emotions as his new ally walked towards the cell door and towards Ralph. He didn’t know what he was planning, but it wasn’t going to be pretty. Zim turned heel to the mess behind him and moved quickly out of the cellar. In the distance he could see the big sillhouette of the barn. 

As he ran, he could hear Ralph and Devon both struggling, but as he grew further apart, he began to hear less and less of it. For now, he had to get back and warn the others. Or, at least Dib and GIR. As he ran down the path, he spotted something running towards him out of the corner of his eye. Upon inspection, it looked like zombies had somehow managed to get in through the electric fence. How could any of this be happening? 

As they drew in closer, the spider legs from Zim’s PAK extended out, thrusting into the heads of the undead. He could hear distant groans, but, it wasn’t from the cellar anymore. It was a lot of them too. They were all running out of time. 

Ignoring the mess he had made, he finally managed to get to the barn and flung the doors open. Moonlight seeped into the barn and upon hearing the creaking of the old doors, many of it’s inhabitants woke up-- including the three Zim had been with. 

“Zambees are coming!” he cried, running to the back of the barn where Dib and GIR were, “Ralph was keeping zambees in his basement! We need to evacuate now or we _won’t_ make it!” 

“What?!” Dib asked, still half asleep, “Wha- Zim are you sure??” Zim nodded, pulling him up and out of his sleepy trance. 

“We need to get out of here! GIR! Keef!” At the sound of Zim’s voice, both GIR and Keef snapped awake. GIR’s eyes turned red and he saluted Zim. 

After hearing Zim cause a commotion, a lot of the barn dwellers were a bit suspicious. Where had all this come from? Then, as if they needed more evidence, Devon appeared in front of the barn doors. Zim was rather happy to see him, or at least he was until he saw him holding his side. He was bleeding a bit. He looked up with strained eyes and pleaded with everyone. 

“Everyone get out!! They’re coming!!” 

Distant groans became louder as Devon glanced back, terror in his eyes. He ran over to Adam who was trying to help Mady up. For a woman so late in her pregnancy, it was going to be difficult to outrun them. 

Keef looked rather skittish, glancing at the barn doors as the groans came closer, “W-what do we do?” 

“We run!” Zim replied, “We get as far away from this ranch as possible! Zim wants no more of this place!” 

Unfortunately, everyone had spent too much time in the barn, and now the zombies were here. Some Zim noticed as the ones from Ralph’s cellar. Others began flooding in that he didn’t seem to recall. How had so many of them already grouped together? Nonetheless, everyone in the barn was ready for a fight. Everyone grabbed hold of their weapons, preparing for the storm. 

Despite his wound, Devon stood at the front of everyone, ready to lead the assault against the herd in front of them. He drew them into the barn, wielding his machete, all while holding his wound with his free hand. “If you see an opening, make a run for it!” And with that, his machete sank into a zombie’s brain. 

The other’s fell into line and attacked as many as they could, and as safely as they could. Zim watched as GIR and Dib took the initiative and went ahead of him. Zim followed behind, picking up the remains. GIR blasted lasers at the heads that came towards him, all while Dib swung his bat. During his stay at the ranch, he was lucky that Adam reinforced it with barbed wire for him. Zim watched his surroundings carefully, waiting for the opportunity to strike a zombie if it came near. But, then, he realized something. 

He turned back and by their sleeping area he saw a very unnerved Keef. He was standing there shaking. Zim angrily urged him to follow. “Keef! Come on!” Even though he barely liked the human, he couldn’t just stand there. With rage boiling inside of him, he raced back and grabbed the boy’s hand, tugging him along. “Snap out of it, Keef!” 

As he ran to catch back up with Dib and GIR, he could hear mumbles and sobs coming from the redhead behind him. All this time, he thought Keef was happy-go-lucky-- or just plain stupid. But, now? He honestly felt bad seeing the human so broken. 

Freedom was within their reach as they could see an opening by the barn doors.The others had already left or were already making a break for it. As soon as they saw it, Dib and GIR made a beeline for the opening. Zim tried his best to catch up, but suddenly, there was a bloodcurdling scream and a tugging that yanked him back. 

Zim glanced back and his eyes widened in horror as Keef was being overcome by the zombies. The boy cried out in pain and horror as he was brutally torn apart by the monsters. Zim’s lip quivered and he began shaking at the sight. He knew they were monsters that ate flesh, but, this wasn’t what he was expecting. It definitely wasn’t something he was prepared to see. 

“Keef?!” Dib cried, glancing back. When he saw the situation, his eyes widened and he darted back, wondering what to do. Zim couldn’t break free, as Keef’s hand had a death grip on his own. “Zim, let go!” 

“Zim can’t!!” he cried, his voice cracking, “Help!!’ 

Without even thinking, Dib took a swing at Keef’s arm, unfortunately breaking it in one swift motion. The pain was too unbearable and the screaming boy finally let go of Zim. All three of them watched on in horror as their classmate was devoured right before them. 

“H-he’s …” Zim whimpered, “... dead …” 

“Let’s get out of here …” Dib whispered, grabbing Zim’s hand and tugging him along. As he felt Dib tug at him, this felt all too familiar. Would he wind up the same way as Keef? Nonetheless, the trio charged out of the barm and out onto the ranch. 

They never looked back until they were far down the path. When all they heard were crickets and the very distant moans of the zombies, did Zim break away from Dib’s grasp. GIR glanced back down the path sadly as he hadn’t had enough time to play with Keef. Zim and Dib both gasped for air as their lungs cried out for a break. 

Before long, Dib clenched his fists and turned to Zim with an angry scowl on his face, “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” 

“Wha-?” Zim looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“You did something back there to bring in zombies! I just know you did! Why did you do it!?” 

“I-it wasn’t Zim!” he pleaded, taking a step back away from Dib, “It was Devon! He found the cell in Ralph’s basement!” 

“You’re such a liar, Zim!! You always ruin good things that happen to me!” taking his clenched fist, the black haired boy swung at Zim, punching him square in the face with enough force to knock the Irken to the ground. “I hate you!” 

Zim hit the ground and had the wind knocked out of him. His head smacked against the dirt path and he flinched at the sudden pain. The alien came to a sitting position and brought his gloved hand to his face, feeling the afflicted area. The pain would vanish quickly and he’d heal too, but, he couldn’t help but look back at Dib with pained eyes. Here he thought they were really beginning to change. He thought he was changing, and so was Dib. Was it all a lie. 

Dib’s eyes turned from rage to regret so quickly as he saw Zim lying in the dirt with distressed eyes. He gulped, not knowing what to say. The damage had already been done. 

“I-I’m sorry …” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I was out of control …” 

Zim said nothing and stood up, poking at the growing bump on his face. After a moment, he only looked at Dib with a look of disappointment. Nothing had to be said from him. 

“... I know you were telling the truth. I’m so sorry, Zim …” Dib looked down, feeling his chest tighten up, “Was it Devon …?” 

“It was both of us,” Zim replied in a monotone voice. Though he kept any feelings from coming forth, Dib knew he was angry and hurt. “We heard zambees groaning and found them in a cell in Ralph’s basement. Devon and Ralph got into a fight and he told me to go and warn you all.” he turned to Dib, eyes glaring at Dib, “Zim did just that. More zombies broke through the fence after that.” 

Dib sighed, tucking his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die after what he did. “ … Sorry ….” 

“It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.” Zim began walking away and called GIR to his side. “Those zambees will catch up to us before long, Dib.” 

“Yeah …” Dib took one more look down the path and followed after Zim and GIR. “Do … do you think Mady and the others got out alright?’ 

“Who knows. All Zim cares about is me and GIR.”  
“Wh- … not me …?” 

Zim turned back to him, his red eyes gleaming in the moonlight, “It seems you only care for yourself. After what just happened, you hate Zim, is that not what you said?” 

“I ... “ he glanced down, sinking into his hoodie, “I did say that … didn’t I …” 

“You did.” 

The three continued on in a hurried pace, hoping to outrun the zombie herd behind them, and hoping somewhere deep down that they’d find the others soon. They didn’t talk to one another the entire time they walked, though deep down, Zim was very upset over Keef. He couldn’t talk to Dib. 

Not now.

* * *

It was very early in the morning when the trio finally stumbled onto something they could rest at. Another home that seemed very much abandoned. Both of them were very much sleep deprived, and GIR had some dents from the fighting earlier. They all deserved a rest after the night they just had. 

With a yawn, Dib grabbed hold of his baseball bat and approached the porch, trudging up the stairs. Zim followed and peered into the house. It was dark inside. Much too dark to see from the outside. 

“Careful,” Dib yawned again, “We don’t know what’s inside.”  
“Zim doesn’t need your lectures. Just get the door open.”  
“Right …” 

Dib put his head up to the door and listened carefully for a moment. Only for the door to be thrusted forward by Zim. It appeared the door was already unlocked. Dib sighed as Zim entered before him. GIR waited patiently for Dib to enter before following suit. 

The house was small, but secure. Each room was thoroughly investigated, and all seemed clear. No zombies, no zombie babies-- they were safe. The two barricaded the only entrances with heavy furniture, hoping that if the herd were to pass by, they wouldn’t get in and keep on going. One the house was secure, they set up their base of operations in the living room. 

Zim laid at one end of the couch, hands rested underneath his head as he stared up at the black ceiling. GIR had fallen asleep at the other end. At the base of the couch, Dib sat on the ground, eating whatever portions he had left in his backpack. He was really missing that hot stew right about now. 

As he ate, he glanced back at Zim, but in the darkness he couldn’t tell if the Irken had dozed off to sleep or not. He was aware that Zim didn’t need sleep, but, the more he kept denying it the more he seemed to sleep anyways. He knew Zim didn’t want to talk after what happened earlier, but, the two needed to make amends. Dib wasn’t about to let one of his only companions hate him forever. He took his free hand and nudged Zim’s leg. 

“What.”  
“How are you doing?”  
“Fine.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes.” 

Well, that didn’t last long at all. He needed to patch things up, but the usual saying sorry didn’t seem to work this time. Of course nothing could be easy around Zim. Then he thought of something that might spark conversation. 

“It was sad what happened to Keef …” Dib turned to Zim when he felt him shift on the couch behind him. 

“I guess.” Zim replied, turning away and burying himself into the back of the couch. 

“I wish there was more we could have done … I didn’t like him much, but, not even Keef deserved that.” 

Zim knew what Dib was trying to do, and he didn’t like it. He couldn’t let him know he was getting to him. After seeing such a horrible display and watching Keef die like that, how could he not have been affected by it? He sighed shakily and tried to force a joke. 

“You’re talking about Keef, Dib-- Keef won’t die that easily. He’s gotten out of worse scrapes before,” Zim tugged at a pillow that was on the couch, pulling it close to his chest, “He’s survived explosions … he’ll survive this …” 

“Zim …” Dib finally turned back to the Irken fully before getting up and sitting in the middle of the couch. “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“No. Leave Zim alone.” he replied, burying his face further into the couch. “Zim doesn’t want any part of you.” 

Dib was finally getting aggravated with Zim’s childish behavior. “Look, Zim, I apologized, okay?! After all the bad shit that’s been happening to us, Ralph’s ranch was a fucking break that I needed! That WE needed!” 

Zim felt his chest tighten as he tried his best to ignore Dib, but, much to his dismay, the human kept talking. 

“I’m sorry I punched you like that, but I was furious!!” he exclaimed, “We finally caught a break and it was taken away from us too soon! So, I don’t know what else you want from me, but you’re acting like a kid, Zim!” 

Zim didn’t reply, to which Dib groaned and slid off the couch. “Unbelievable. I can’t believe you’re acting like this.” 

“I felt him shaking.” 

Dib felt goosebumps form when he heard Zim say that. He turned once again, and paused before answering. “What …?” 

“I told Keef to come with us,” Zim replied, hugging the pillow tightly, “I saw he was upset and breaking, and I forced him to come with us.” 

“You tried to save him--” 

Zim sat up and threw the pillow to the ground, “I KILLED HIM!” 

Dib had finally gotten a reaction out of him, that was for sure, but this was definitely not what he was expecting. He shook his head in the darkness, trying to search for Zim’s silhouette. “No you didn’t, Zim …” 

“I felt everything he felt! The pressure, the zambees biting down on him!” Zim turned away from Dib, pulling his knees into his hoodie and holding himself. “His hand tightened on mine and I couldn’t let go! It was so tight, Dib … all the pain he felt, I could feel it in just that tight grip …” 

“I would’ve thought you’d seen plenty of things like this as an Invader …” Dib replied, coming to a sitting position on the couch next to him. “Isn’t it kill or be killed as an Invader? You must’ve seen shit like this before--” 

“Nothing like this!!” Zim replied, voice strained as he choked back sobs. “Nothing at all like this … and now Keef is dead …” 

“But, you didn’t even like him …” 

“I DON’T-- I DIDN’T-- I JUST,” All at once, tears streamed from the Irken’s eyes. He clenched his hands and covered his face. Muffled sobs escaped him as he tried holding it back. It only made him sound even more pathetic, “I HATE THESE STUPID FEELINGS!! I HATED HIM YET IT HURTS SO MUCH!!” 

“Zim … you did everything you could do …” he tried reaching out to comfort him, but Zim scooted farther back into the couch’s armrest. 

“Zim didn’t do enough ... “ he held the side of his face, feeling the need to punch himself in the face over and over and over again. Finally, he let out a sad chuckle, “It’s Keef … why is Zim so upset over KEEF??” the chuckle was instantly replaced with sobs and he buried his head into his knees. “I’ve been on Earth for too long …” 

Without asking, Dib pressed forward and pulled Zim into a hug. At first, the Irken protested, trying to push away from Dib, but, after only a few moments, he broke down and let it happen. He buried his face into Dib’s hoodie and sobbed. He wa absolutely pathetic and he hated it. Dib was more than likely getting a kick out of it. 

“Zim, it’s gonna be okay …” he rubbed the Irken’s back soothingly, trying to calm him down. If that herd were to pass by, they would surely hear Zim’s sobs. “We’re gonna be okay …” 

“What if we end up like him …” Zim said as his voice stuttered and skipped. Everytime he tried to talk, he just choked on his sobs-- it only made him cry harder. How embarrassing this was.“I hate this so much …” 

Dib, who had never seen Zim this emotional before, did everything in his power to quiet him down, “Shhh … come on, Zim, pull yourself together …” Although his own chest ached at the vivid memory of Keef dying, he bore a smile, “I told you we were gonna beat this world. We weren’t going to be failures anymore.” 

Zim didn’t respond, only hoping to ease his sobbing fit. He brought his hands to Dib’s back, hugging him back as he buried deeper into his hoodie. Was it a way of thanking him? Or was he just so low and upset with himself, why not go further? Either way, he needed this, despite his brain screaming at him to stop being so pathetic. 

“Zim?”  
“What?”  
“I don’t hate you.” he smiled a bit, “Not anymore at least.” 

Zim’s grip tightened on Dib’s hoodie and he nodded, his face still buried. “I don’t hate you either … not anymore …” 

Finally Dib parted from the hug, letting Zim collect himself after his emotional breakthrough. He hiccuped for a bit before looking up at Dib. Luckily, they couldn’t really see each other in the darkness. At least he didn’t see his pitiful display. Hearing it was one thing. Being able to see it was another. 

“You alright?” Dib asked, cocking his head. 

Zim sniffed and nodded, “Yeah … Zim will be fine …” 

“Good …” 

Despite Zim’s loud outbursts, GIR hadn’t woken up at all. The robot, still in his deep sleep, tumbled off of the couch and onto the carpeted floor with a squeak. Dib took this opportunity to lay at the other end of the couch and give Zim some space. 

They both laid there and stared at the ceiling for a long time. Zim still hiccupped and tried to steady his gross emotional noises. He was glad that Dib didn’t call him out or make fun of him for it. Perhaps what he had thought earlier was true. The both of them were changing for the better. If that was the case, maybe Dib was someone he really could trust. He sighed heavily and finally broke the silence. 

“I’ve been having really bad nightmares lately,” he stated, sighing again shakily, “When I saw Devon earlier and we found out what Ralph was doing … the only reason it even happened was because of that nightmare.” 

“What kind of nightmares? What happens in them?” Perhaps that was a bad thing to ask at the moment. After all, he didn’t want Zim to start crying again and bring the herd closer to them. 

“I had one before where you … turned,” he gulped, “We were in an arena of sorts and the Tallest watched as you killed me.” 

“Damn …” 

“The one I had earlier … I saw Tak.” his brow furrowed as he remembered the details of it, “She said such belittling things to me. My PAK was off, and I only had five minutes to live. I remember the pain so vividly.” 

Dib went quiet. Two nightmares in a row? Was it because of his bite? Come to think of it, Zim wasn’t turning. He was beginning to think he truly was immune. Or, maybe the circumstances had just been stressing Zim out enough to give him nightmares. 

“I’m sure they’ll go away with time … they sound horrible though …”  
“They are.” Zim closed his eyes, “And I hope so too …” 

Zim felt himself beginning to doze off, definitely not looking forward to another nightmare that night. But, his head hurt-- a lot. He hoped that sleeping, even if it was just for a little bit, would help. Before long, he fell into a light sleep. 

* * *

“Zim! Wake up!” 

Zim awoke to Dib shaking him awake. Light was coming in from the windows as morning shone through. “What is it? Are we leaving?” He stretched a bit as he watch Dib move away from him. 

“No, I think I heard someone outside. It was in the distance, but, now I can’t hear them.” Dib warned. He grabbed hold of his bat that was laying against the couch. 

GIR, who had been awake before them was standing by the window, peering outside. 

“GIR, get away from the window!”  
“But, Master, it’s the humans we know!” 

“Huh??” Dib raced to the window as well, peering outside. When Zim joined them the Irken’s eyes widened. 

The trio saw Devon, Mady, and Adam struggling to walk towards the house. They hadn’t seen them yet, but, it looked like Mady was in pain. Devon and Adam struggled to keep her standing, all the while the redhead still clung to the wound on his side. 

“We need to get them inside!” Dib and Zim rushed to the front door, removing the barricade and ready to bring them inside. With the help from GIR, they were able to move it quick enough. The door was flung open and they showed Mady and the others it was safe. 

Adam was relieved and smiled happily, “Look, Mady … they’re safe. We’re gonna be okay!”  
“Oh … thank goodness. I was so worried about them,” she flinched a moment later, holding back a yelp. “We need to get inside …” 

Dib cocked his head and called out, “What’s wrong with Mady? Is she okay?!”

Devon shook his head, “She’s going into labor! We need to get her inside!” 

All at once, Dib’s heart began thudding out of his chest and nodded, running out to help them. Zim and GIR only watched on in confusion. Going into labor? What did that mean? The four of them got Mady safely inside as Zim and GIR closed off the front door again. 

As they helped her relax on the ground, Zim couldn’t help but wonder what was happening with her. Why was she in so much pain. And all the yelling-- would it attract the zombies? Nonetheless, just like the others, he rushed to her aid. 

He may not have understood what was going on, but, he liked Mady-- way more than other humans. Zim was ready to help-- despite not knowing what he was helping with.


End file.
